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GEO.F.COOLEDGE^BROTHER. 



THE LIFE 



OF 



niPTAII JOHI SMITH. 



THE 



FOUNDER OF VIRGINIA. 



,.fA 



BY W: aiLMORE SIMMS. 

AUTHOR OF "lIFK OF MARION," "HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA," BIO. 



NEW YORK: 
PUBLISHED BY GEO. F. COOLEDGE & BROTHER, 

BOOKSELLERS AND PUBLISHERS, 
323 PEARL STREET. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by 

W. GILMORE SIMMS, 
in the Clerk's Office for the Southern District of New York. 



S. W. BENEDICT, 
STEREOTYPER AND PRINTER, 16 SprUCC St. 



V 



ADVERTISEMENT. 

The works consulted in the preparation of this volume 
are " The true Travels, Adventures and Observations 
of Captain John Smith in Europe, Asia, Africke and 
America,'' Stith, Beverley, Burke, Purchas, Gra- 
hame, Bancroft, Collections of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society, and the neat and well-written Life 
of Smith, by Mr. Hilliard, contained in the Library 
of American Biography. As much of Smith's own 
language as could be employed has been made use of 
without scruple, and with little alteration. It has been a 
favorite part of the plan of the present volume to make 
the account of the Discovery, Settlement and Progress 
of Virginia as copious as possible, consistently with 
the claims of the biography. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



BOOK I.— CHAPTER I. 

John Smith, born in Lincolnshire, England — good family — 
left an orphan at an early age — education neglected by his 
guardians — apprenticed to a merchant of Lynn — leaves him 
and goes to France — serves in the Low Countries as a sol- 
dier — embarks for Scotland — is wrecked and narrowly 
saved from drowning — falls sick, and becomes a hermit in 
Lincolnshire. - -- 9 

CHAPTER II. 

Revisits the Low Countries — robbed by certain French gal- 
lants — duel with one of them, whom he wounds — received 
with kindness by the Earl of Ployer — takes ship for Italy — 
is thrown overboard by the Catholics in a storm — saved on 
St. Mary's Isle — is taken oflf by a French vessel, and sails 
for Egypt — fight at sea between the French and a Venetian 
— Smith travels over Italy — goes to Austria, and joins the 
Imperial army. - ---23 

CHAPTER III. 

Smith attracts the notice of the Imperial officers — siege of 
Olympach — he devises a scheme for the relief of the place — 
his telegraphic communication with the besieged by means of 
torches — it succeeds — battle with the Turks — relief of Olym- 
pach — Smith is rewarded by a command of horse in the 
regiment of Meldritch. -------33 

CHAPTER IV. 

Siege of Alba Regalis — "Fiery Dragons" of Smith — ^their 
effect — the city taken by storm — Turks approach for relief 
1 



ii TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

— battle on the plains of Girke — Smith wounded — his horse 
killed — second battle — Turks routed — Smith goes with the 
Earl of Meldritch into Transylvania, and against the 
Turks. 39 

CHAPTER V. 

Siege of the Turkish city of Regall— the Christian knights 
challenged by Lord Turbishaw — lots cast, and Smith is 
chosen to encounter the Turkish champion — kills him in 
sight of both armies, and carries off the head of Turbishaw, 
with his armor. ---------47 

CHAPTER VI. 

Smith is challenged by Lord Grualgo, the comrade of Tur- 
bishaw — accepts the challenge — they meet as before in the 
sight of both armies — Smith is wounded by a pistol shot, 
but carries off the head and armor of Grualgo — in turn he 
sends a challenge to the knights in Regall — challenge ac- 
cepted by Bonny Mulgro — Smith is nearly defeated in the 
combat, but slays the Turkish champion. - - - - 53 

CHAPTER VIL 

Smith honored with a triumph — ennobled by Sigismund, Prince 
of Transylvania — siege of Regall continued — Regall storm- 
ed — massacre — the army penetrates Wallachia — battle with 
Jeremias — Smith's description of the battle. - - - 58 

CHAPTER VIIL 

War with the Turks continued — Christian army retreats- 
beleaguered by their enemies — Smith's invention of fire- 
works — their success — approach of the Tartar army — battle 
in the valley of Veristhorn — defeat of the Christians — Smith 
wounded, and left for dead among the slain — a captive, and 
sold to the Bashaw Bogall. - 67 

CHAPTER IX. 

Smith sent to Constantinople, a present to a Turkish damsel- 
wins her affections — sent by her for safety to her brother, Ti- 
mour Bashaw — is brutally treated by him — beats out the 
Bashaw's brains, and escapes to Muscovy. - - - 74 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. Ill 

CHAPTER X. 

Smith reaches Ecopolis — is kindly treated by the Lady Cala- 
mata — returns to Transylvania — warmly received by Mel- 
dritch and Prince Sigismund — goes with a French captain 
to Morocco — accompanies him in a cruise to the Canaries 
— sea-fight with two Spanish vessels, and escape of the 
Frenchman. - - - - - - -- - 83 

BOOK II.— CHAPTER I. 

Smith again in England — colonial settlement and mercantile 
adventure — he is greatly interested in the subject — English 
discovery in the New World — Smith joins with others seek- 
ing to colonize. ---------92 

CHAPTER II. 

Squadron of three small vessels sail from Blackwall, in De- 
cember, 1606 — voyage inauspicious — strife among the ad- 
venturei's — Smith taken into custody by his comrades — they 
reach the Chesapeake — is allowed his freedom — James river 
— the site chosen for a settlement. ----- 104 

CHAPTER III. 

Smith's energy and industry — not suffered a seat in council — 
he visits Powhatan — colonists surprised by the Indians — 
their terror at the English firearms — the council propose to 
send Smith to England — he resists them — insists upon his 
trial— is acquitted — obtains damages for his injuries, and is 
admitted to the council. - - - - - - -113 

CHAPTER IV. 

Distresses of the colony — evils of the management — incompe- 
tency of the President — Smith placed at the head of affairs 
— his courage and conduct — improvement in condition of 
the colonists — Smith's encounter and success with the sa- 
vages — conspiracy against him among the whites — defeats 
it — pimishes the conspirators — explores the country — is 
taken by the Indians. ___-_._ 12O 

CHAPTER V. 

Smith carried in triumph through the settlements of the sa- 



if TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

vages — nearly slain by an Indian father, whose son had 
been killed in an affair with the whites — ^fears of being eaten 
— ^is conducted to the hamlet of Powhatan. - - - 135 

CHAPTER VI. 

The power of the Indian emperor — Smith received "by him in 
state — is treated with courtesy — his fate discussed — he is 
doomed to die — his head is on the block, and the executioner 
about to strike, when the victim is saved by the interposition 
of Pocahontas, the child of Powhatan. - - . - 143 

CHAPTER VII. 

Smith is taken into favor — his judicious policy with the In- 
dians — his doubts and distresses — conferences with Powha- 
tan — treaty — is sent back to Jamestown, and reaches the co- 
lony in safety — new conspiracy of the English to abandon 
the settlement — quelled by Smith — they seek to punish him 
for the death of two soldiers, slain by the savages, when he 
was taken prisoner — he lays his enemies by the heels. - 153 



BOOK III.— CHAPTER I. 

Smith's description of the Indians — his management of them— 
his power over them — Newport persuaded to visit Powhatan 
— ^his fears — Smith's example — the interview with and de- 
scription of the Indian emperor — exchange of hostages and 
courtesies — trade _---_--- 162 

.CHAPTER II. 

Mutual policy of the red and white men — equal sagacity of 
Smith and Powhatan — cold winter — destruction of James- 
town by fire — blunders of the proprietors, and ridiculous 
search for gold. --------- 175 

CHAPTER III. 

Preparations for invading the Monacans — ^bad practices of the 
sailors and the colonists — insolence of the Indians — their 
thefts — Smith drives them before him — the effects of his re- 
solution upon them — conspiracy against the colony — Poca- 
hontas sent to Jamestown with apologies from Powhatan, to 
whom Smith gives up his Indian captives. - - - 183 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. V 

CHAPTER IV. 

Radcliffe President — his weakness and excesses — is restrained 
by Smith — energy of Smith — he explores the Chesapeake in 
an open boat — thunderstorm and narrow escape — ambuscade 
of the savages — Massawomeks — discovery of Potomac — 
Smith wounded severely by a stingray. - - - . 191 

CHAPTER V. 

Return to Jamestown — follies of the President — Smith re-em- 
barks on a new voyage — makes discoveries of other tribes 
and ruins — the Susquehannocks, a gigantic people — conflicts 
and treaties with the Indians — peril from tempests. - - 205 

CHAPTER VI. 

Re-building Jamestown — arrival from England — idle projects 
of the adventurers —visit to Powhatan by the English — 
sports of Indian damsels — pride of Powhatan — ludicrous 
scene at his coronation ------- 226 

CHAPTER VII. 

Newport's abortive adventure in the country of the Mona- 
cans — Smith sets the colonists to work — his punishments for 
swearing — hostility of the Indians — distress of the colony — 
his remedies — his letter to the treasurer and council of the 
plantation. 238 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The exigencies of the colony — Smith goes among the Indians 
for provisions — camp in the snow — difficulties with the In- 
dians — Powhatan hostile — Smith resolves to seize his per- 
son—vigilance of Powhatan — his cunning and ill feeling, 
treachery and excellent speech — attempts of the savages — 
Smith's courage and conduct — defeats their plans — Poca- 
hontas comes to Smith by night to warn him against the 
messengers sent by her father — the supper. - _ - 251 

CHAPTER IX. 

Treachery among the whites — Smith at Pamaunkee, the seat 

of Opechancanough — hostile designs of the latter — Smith 

environed by the savages — seizes Opechancanough in per- 
1# 



ti TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

son, and extricates himself and friends — second attempt of 

the Indian chief, and defeat — disaster at Jamestown. - - 271 

CHAPTER X. - 

Smith renews his attempts to take Powhatan and is again 
baffled — returns to Jamestown — confusion there — ^his laws 
— attempt upon his life and the colony by the savages, with 
the help of certain traitorous Dutchmen — Smith assailed by 
the King of Paspahegh, a giant — overthrows him in single 
combat, and carries him prisoner to Jamestown — His skill 
in surgery — ^Indian ingenuity. ------ 384 

CHAPTER XI. 

Improvements at Jamestown — Smith supreme — Powhatan's 
liberality — Smith's treatment of mutineers — his power 
among the savages —the Dutchmen — their fate — return of 

exploring parties. -- 297 

CHAPTER XII. 

Smith's enemies — a new charter for the colony — new officers 
from Europe — their follies — Smith superseded — the distresses 
and disturbances of the settlement — Smith's scorn and in- 
diiference — his resumption of authority — his energy, decision 
and judgment — combat of the settlers at the Falls with the 
savages — Smith rescues the former — resettles them, and 
they abandon the settlement, ..-.-- 306 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Smith blown up with gunpowder — nearly drowned— conspi- 
racy, and attempt upon his life — his sufferings — resigns the 
government to Percy, and returns to England — his services 
in the colony. 317 



BOOK IV.— CHAPTER I. 

Smith in England — his studies — writings — associates and eulo- 
gists — " The Sea Marke," a poem — the Virginia colony — 
Pocahontas — her captivity — marriage with John Rolfe, and 
admission into the Church of Christ. - _ - - 335 

CHAPTER II. 
Smith's cravings for adventure — Plymouth Company — Dis- 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. Vll 

covery in New England — Smith's first voyage for furs and 
fish — his narrative and map of the country — receives the 
honorary distinction of Admiral of New England — difficul- 
ties between the London and Plymouth companies — Smith's 
second voyage to New England — misfortunes — encounters 
with pirates — is taken prisoner by the French — escapes in 
one of their boats during a storm. ----- 337 

CHAPTER III. 

Smith at Rochelle in France — assisted by Madame Chanoys 
— ^returns to England — his publications, fame, disappoint- 
ments and noble firmness — vainly labors to proceed with a 
new armament to New England. ----- 348 

CHAPTER IV. 

Virginia — attempts of the English to take from Powhatan a 
second daughter — Pocahontas — her character — is carried to , 
England by Sir Thomas Dale — her interview with Smith — 
his letter to Ctueen Anne — Uttomakkin, the emissary of 
Powhatan — Death of Pocahontas — her descendants. - - 355 

CHAPTER V. 

Powhatan — his death — Opechancanough, his power and policy 
— massacre of the English — Smith's scheme for subduing 
the Indians — his opinions of the state of the colony — ^his fail- 
ures and writings — neglect, and death in 1631 — Opechanca- 
nough — his captivity — dignity — assassination by an English 
soldier while in custody of Sir William Berkeley. - - 367 

APPENDIX. 
Smith's Patent of Nobility 377 



THE LIFE 



OF 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



BOOK L— CHAPTER I. 

In the long roU or catalogue which the world may exhi- 
bit of the great or remarkable men who have distinguish- 
ed its several epochs and conditions, none have ever so 
completely ravished the regards of contemporaries as 
those who have been equally marked by the great and 
spontaneous readiness of their thoughts, and the resolute 
activity and eagerness with which they advance to the 
performance of their actions. In such persons, under pe- 
culiar laws of temperament, the blood and the brain work 
together in the most exquisite unanimity. There is no 
reluctance of the subordinate to follow the commands of 
the superior ; no failure in the agent properly to conceive, 
and adequately to carry out, the designs and desires of the 
principal. The soul responds generously to the dictates of 
the mind, and no tardy ratiocination, slowly halting in the 
rear of the will, finally supervenes to reprove the deed 
when it is too late for its repair, and compel a vain regret 
for the hasty and unconsidered action. But, on the con- 
trary, the impulses of the blood, and the counsels of the 



10 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

brain, as if twinned together, harnrioniously prompt and 
perform those admirable achievements, which ordinary 
men regard as the fruits of a sudden instinct, or a happy 
inspiration. Tried by calm reflection, the process chosen, 
the labor done, seem to have met the necessity precisely, 
as if the most deliberate wisdom had sat in judgment upon 
the event ; and yet the performance will have been as 
prompt as the exigency w^hich provoked it. With persons 
thus fortunately constituted, deliberation is rather an ob- 
stacle than a help to right performance. They seem to 
conceive and to think more justly while in action than in 
repose. It is the necessity which provokes the thought. 
It is the sudden call upon their genius that shows them to 
be possessed of the endowment. Such are the men who 
commonly appear to shape and regulate th* transition pe- 
riods in society ; to time and to direct its enterprises ; to in- 
fuse its spirit with eagerness and enthusiasm, and to meet, 
with the happiest resources and the most unfailing intre- 
pidity, the frequent exigencies which hang about the foot- 
steps of adventure. 

Of this class of persons, living in modern periods, and 
by reason of merits such as these commended to our at- 
tention, the name and fortunes of him who is the subject 
of these pages possess a more than common interest for 
the American. Capt. John Smith, the real founder of 
Virginia, is one of the proverbial heroes of British settle- 
ment in this western hemisphere. His career will happily 
illustrate the peculiar sort of character upon which we 
have thought proper briefly to expatiate. His story is 
one of those real romances which mock the incidents of 
ordinary fiction. This we are to gather chiefly from his 
own narratives, and partly from his contemporaries, by 
whom his deeds are amply confirmed and put beyond dis- 
pute. Of his adventures, which lift into heroic dignity a 



?^il 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 11 

name so little significant in itself as to be commonly a sub- 
ject for the vulgar jest, it is enough to say, that they serve 
to denote the more noble and daring events of a period, 
distinguished by its spirit, its courage and its passion, for 
vigorous and stirring performance. It is as one of the 
master spirits of this period and of modern times, that the 
subject of our biography challenges the consideration of 
our people. 

John Smith vras born at Willoughby, in the county of 
Lincolnshire, England, some time in the year 1579. He 
"was descended from an ancient Lancashire family. His 
father came from the ancient stock of the Smiths of Crud- 
ley in that shire ; his mother from the Rickards, at Great 
Heck, Yorkshire. He received his education, such as it 
was, at the free schools of Louth and Alford, It was, 
probably, his own fault that his schooling was not better. 
He was not of a temper to be restrained by schools and 
tutors. The eager activity of his mind and blood betrayed 
itself at a very early period. He makes the first exhibi- 
tion of this activity while at school, and at the early age 
of thirteen. , " Set," even then, according to his own 
showing, " upon brave adventures," he sold his books and 
satchel, and was preparing secretly to steal away to sea, 
when he was arrested by the death of his father. His 
mother, of whom he does not speak, seems to have died 
previously. His wandering purpose, arrested by this 
event, was checked for the moment only. His father left 
him some little property, which, with himself, was com- 
mitted to the charge of certain guardians, who proved 
quite unfaithful to their trust. They were not disposed to 
waste his substance upon him, and with shameful cupidity 
winked at that tendency to vagabondism which his early 
impatience of restraint seemed to promise. Fortune thus, 
in lessening his domestic ties and sympathies, seemed to 



12 % LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

encourage his wandering inclinations. His guardians al- 
lowed him much liberty, if they gave him little money. 
Of the former he soon had enough to enable him 'to get 
beyond the sea ; but his means were too slender to justify 
his flight. A little more liberality, at this early period, 
might have relieved them of all farther annoyance at his 
hands. Compelled to provide for him at home, they placed 
him, as an apprentice, with a merchant of Lynn,^ named 
Sendall — " the greatest merchant," according to Smith, " of 
all those parts." But Smith longed for the sea, and Sen- 
dall had other uses for him on shore. His apprentice had 
no taste for these uses, and though his guardians might 
bind with all the fetters of the law, he was not the lad to 
reverence such a bondage. The spirit, that already 
dreamed of doings with the sword, was not to be subdued 
by indentured parchment. He soon leaped his counter, 
and never saw his master again until the lapse of eight 
years rendered it equally unlikely that the latter would re- 
cognize or reclaim his fugitive. He thus made himself a 
freeman with but ten shillings in his pocket. This ten 
shillings was the liberal allowance of his guardians, " out 
of his own money," given him, as he tells us, " to get rid 
of him." His flight from the merchant does not appear 
to have been withheld from their knowledge. In all pro- 
bability he fled to them from Sendall, in order to procure 
the means of getting to sea or passing into foreign coun- 
tries. These were his favorite ideas. They constituted 
his passions, and, as the nearest step to their gratification, 
he found means to enter the service of the sons of the 
famous Lord Willoughby,* then under tutelage, and about 
to make the tour of the continent. We are not told in 



* "The Right Honorable Peregrine, that generous Lord Wil- 
loughby, and famous soldier." — Smith's Narrative. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH* 13 

what capacity he attended these young gentlemen — most 
probably as a page, scarcely as a companion. He was not 
long in this situation. Within a month or six weeks after 
entering France, " his service being needless," as he him- 
self tells us, he was dismissed with a liberal allowance of 
money to take him back to his friends. But such friends 
as our apprentice had left behind him in London possess- 
ed very few attractions. Their bonds were not so very 
grateful as to move him voluntarily to resume them. He 
had as yet seen but little of the world. He had but par- 
tially gratified the strong curiosity which had carried him 
abroad. He remembered the ten shillings bounty of his 
guardians, and the object for which it had been given, and 
he concluded to linger a while longer in France. He 
made his way to Paris — a boy of fifteen, without friends or 
companions — how, he does not tell us, but under what dif- 
ficulties, doubts and dangers, at that early period in his own 
life, and that unsettled period in the history of the country, 
through which he went ! This very progress illustrates, 
in some degree, the courage and daring of his mind. At 
Paris, he made the acquaintance of a Scottish gentleman, 
named Hume, in whose eyes he soon found favor. Hume 
replenished his purse, and becoming interested in his grace, 
spirit and intelligence, furnished him with letters of intro- 
duction, couched in terms of liberal commendation, to his 
friends in Scotland. The idea, which possessed the mind 
of this gentleman in behalf of his youthful protege, suffi- 
ciently proves the great hopes which he had formed of his 
endowments, even at that early period. The object of 
his advice and letters was to make of him a courtier, to 
procure for him access to the person, and, if possible, em- 
ployment in the service of King James, the well-known 
Scottish Solomon. What was the influence of Hume and 
his friends at court, it would not now be easy to discover. 
2 



14 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

Looking to the sequel in the career of Smith, it would 
prove his patron to have been a man of discernment and 
sagacity. The design certainly proves that Hume beheld 
in the boy some foreshowings of the future man. We are 
prepared to see already that he was no ordinary boy — we 
see that he at least possessed some of those outward ac- 
complishments which compel the regards of older heads. 
These accomplishments, whatever they may have been, 
were all certainly of his own acquisition. They did not 
come from the free schools of Louth and Alford ; they 
scarcely had their foundation behind the counter of the 
Lynn merchant, and it does not appear that he was much, 
if anything, indebted to his parents. They were the fruits 
of a peculiar original endowment. All that was precious 
in Smith's education came from his experience. 

But Smith was still too much of the wayward boy to 
follow implicitly the directions of his friend. Though at 
first honestly resolved to do so, his temper was quite too 
capricious just at that moment to continue in his purposes. 
There were too many objects in France for his diversion. 
His mind was too eager for the novel, too impatient of the 
staid, too wild, too erratic, to remain long at this period 
in any one way of thinking. And let us not too seriously 
censure these exhibitions of caprice. It is curious to ob- 
serve how frequently, not to say inevitably, they attend the 
career of the young adventurer who carves out his own 
fame and fortunes. It is in this way that nature prompts 
to the necessary acquisitions of the performer. The rest- 
lessness of mood which we thus witness, leads to constant 
discovery. The wandering footstep is associated with the 
keen eye and the scrutinizing judgment ; and the mind 
finds its strength and volume in this seeming caprice and 
purposeless misdirection, as the muscle of the child grows 
from the feverish restlessness of its feeble and uncertain 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 15 

limbs. While we studiously train the young to the steady 
exercise of their faculties, we must allow, at the same 
time, for the indulgence of those impulses which cause 
vigilance, far-sightedness, promptness of decision, and 
great activity. 

Scarcely had Smith got out of the sight of his Scottish 
benefactor, when he forgot the ambitious purpose which 
was entertained in his behalf. He forgot Scotland and 
its pacific monarch in a new impulse to adventure. It is 
probable that the attractions of courtier life made a less 
lively impression on his fancy than upon that of Hume. 
At all events, arrived at Rouen, he finds his money all 
spent, and listens to other counsellors. The sound of the 
trumpet stirs his soul with more delightful and powerful 
sensations. He hears the shouts of the horsemen, and the 
preparations for war. Instead of Scotland he takes the 
route to Havre de Grace, where, in his own language, '^ he 
first began to learn the life of a soldier." This must have 
been somewhere between the years 1608 and 1610. What 
were the lessons he learned, what battles he saw, in what 
wars or on what side he was engaged, are left wholly to 
conjecture. The civil wars of the Catholics and Protest- 
ants, terminating in the assassination of Henry IV., pre- 
vailed about this period. That Smith shared in these con- 
flicts, and on the Protestant side of the question, may rea- 
sonably be inferred from all the circumstances. These 
wars were at an end. Peace in France made that coun- 
try no longer an attraction to him who had just taken his 
first lesson in the art of war, and Smith at once passed 
into the Low Countries — then, and long afterwards, des- 
tined to become the great battle-ground for half of Europe. 
Here he served four years under a Captain Joseph Dux- 
bury. He was probably one of a band of English auxi- 
liaries serving against Spain in the great conflict which 



16 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

finally secured to the Netherlands their independence. Of 
his own share in this war, and of the position which he 
held, Smith tells us nothing. Though he wrote much, 
Smith was not an elegant writer. Though sometimes 
tedious, he is so more on account of his style and manner 
of narrative than because of his material. He is never 
copious, and satisfies himself with barely glancing at 
events, the details of which, we perceive, would enrich 
the story and delight the reader. It is only when he ar- 
rives at a trust, when he becomes a leader, that he speaks 
distinctly of himself. Of Smith in the ranks, as one of 
many, doing nothing more and nothing better than the rest, 
he is modestly silent. He was still little more than a boy 
while under Duxbury, could scarcely have had any trust 
assigned him, and evidently considered himself as barely 
serving out an apprenticeship. He was more faithful in 
this than in the service of the Lynn merchant. That he 
was diligent in his studies, that he took to his art con 
amore, and mastered it quickly and with a rare ability, we 
have every reason to suppose from his subsequent career. 
Indeed, but a short time after, we find him boasting of 
his acquisitions even when silent on the subject of his per- 
formances. He tells us with equal pride and modesty that 
he had mastered all in the martial schools of France and 
the Netherlands that " his tender years could attain unto." 
These acquisitions could only have been attained by prac- 
tice ; this practice could only have been found in the 
actual exigencies of war. These inferences are unavoid- 
able. Still, it is to be wished that his narrative had not 
been so meagre — that we could have been suffered to see 
the eager spirit of the boy, and how he bore himself in 
these preparatory campaigns. We should have been the 
better prepared to understand the origin of those audacious 
instances of valor, and those admirable proofs of skill and 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 17 

sagacity, which subsequently became so completely asso- 
ciated with his name. 

His apprenticeship to the art of war, as pursued in the 
Low Countries, was prolonged for three or four years. At 
the close of this period, in some interval of the service, or 
possibly in one of his usual caprices, Smith bethought 
himself of the Scottish letters furnished him by Hume. 
He suddenly resumed the purpose which he had abandon- 
ed at Rouen, and once more determined to proceed to 
Scotland. He embarks accordingly at Ancusan for Leith. 
In this voyage he was destined to enjoy a foretaste of that 
harsh fortune by which his genius was to be schooled, in 
order to the requisite training for its true performance. 
The vessel in which he sailed was wrecked. He narrowly 
escaped drowning only to encounter another equally great 
danger from a severe fit of sickness, which seized him on 
the Holy Isle of Northumberland, near Berwick. Here 
he lay in as much danger '' as sickness could endure." As 
soon as he had sufficiently recruited, he entered Scotland, 
and delivered the several letters which Hume had given 
him for his friends. The proverbial hospitality of the 
Scotch people was not denied to Smith. He had no occa- 
sion for complaint on this score. The persons to whom 
his letters were addressed — " those honest Scots at Kip- 
weth and Broxmouth" — received him with the greatest 
kindness, but beyond this his mission produced no fruits. 
It does not appear that he was ever presented to the king. 
He himself tells us that there " was neither money nor 
means to make him a courtier." His native independence 
of character may have been an obstacle, may have ren- 
dered impossible, to his spirit, those preliminary servilities 
which ambition, taking this course, is compelled usually 
to undergo before it can hope for the attainment of its ob- 
ject. The good sense or the proud stomach of our hero, 
2* 



18 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

may have saved him from this sort of degradation ; and 
such it was hke to have been, in fawning upon such a 
monarch as James the First. By a comparison of dates, 
it is highly probable that this sovereign was now becom- 
ing eagerly anxious for the robes of Elizabeth. Her de- 
mise followed a few years after, and looking to this event 
we may reasonably conjecture that bonnie King Jamie 
had no particular reason to increase his establishment in a 
country from which at any moment he might have been 
summoned to depart. What would have been the effect 
upon Smith's fortunes, and those of England, had the 
former found his way into favor — in anticipation of Buck- 
ingham — had his nobler spirit dictated the enterprises, and 
stimulated the couraare of the kino-dom ? Imaojinative his- 
tories, equally instructive and amusing, may sometimes be 
wrought by the happy intellect, pursuing some such grate- 
ful conjecture, upon a single fact assumed, to its probable 
conclusion, in changing the destiny of kingdoms and in 
averting the fall of kings. This is one of these subjects. — 
Smith taken into the family of James, while yet a boy at 
the Court of Scotland, might, with the vigor of youth, have 
pursued and carried out the brilliant schemes of Raleigh, 
then no longer young ; and by realizing some of the nobler 
objects of that great man, while yet he lived, might have 
yielded a human consolation to his dying moments. The 
roving passion was strong in both their bosoms, and their 
career in arms was not unlike. They both received their 
early lessons of war in France and the Netherlands, fight- 
ing for the same behalf, that of the Protestants. We shall 
see that one at least of the adventurous projects of Raleigh 
was destined to owe its successful prosecution to the saga- 
city, the courage and the energy of Smith. 

Whatever may have been the cause, our hero was very 
soon diverted from any thought of pursuing the toils and 



Q 




LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 19 

the occupations of the courtier ; and, possibly with some 
feelings of chagrin and disappointment with the world, he 
returned to Willoughby, in Lincolnshire, his place of birth. 
Here it appears that he lived a great deal in society ; but 
the society even af his early abode, the first sensations of 
pleasure over, was not calculated to satisfy a mind of his 
eccentric energies. He describes himself as "glutted with 
too much company, wherein he took small delight." In 
moments of exhaustion, from previous excess of toil or 
enterprise, the spirits of persons of this order flag, and re- 
quire a degree of repose strictly proportioned to the energy 
they have displayed in their preceding exertions. To a 
man like Smith in particular — one who had lived so rapid- 
ly, and had already seen so much of the world— there 
could have been no condition so well calculated to pall 
upon his tastes as the tame and monotonous movement of 
daily life in the humdrum quiet of a country town. His 
blood was naturally fretted by inactivity, and the very 
presence of a crowd, of a society that was performing no- 
thing, must soon have disgusted a temper which, for so long 
a period, had enjoyed for its daily food the humors and the 
excitements of a camp, the variety and the animation of a 
great city, the dangers of the sea, and the thousand stimu- 
lating aspects and avocations of a strange land. His reme- 
dy against the apathy into which he was in danger of fall- 
ing from his intercourse with a society which to him could 
afford no nourishment, was of a kind to denote the impa- 
tience and the independence of his mind. He fled alto- 
gether from communion with men, adopting a like resort 
with many of the bold and eccentric persons of past 
times, and betook himself to the solitude and shelter of the 
forests. " In woodie pasture," thus he writes, " invironned 
with many hundred acres of other woods," he adopted the 
guise and the manners of a hermit. " Here, by a faire 



20 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

brooke, he built himself a pavillion of boughs, where onely 
in his clothes he lay." We see in this proceeding the ro- 
mantic tendencies of his character — that eager, enthusias- 
tic nature, which always yearns for the wild, the strange 
and the extravagant — disdaining the beaten track, and 
eagerly striving after a condition and performances from 
which the ordinary temper shrinks ever in dismay. In this 
very errantry we may see the germ of that adventurous 
mood which led him in maturer years across the Atlantic 
to the fathomless depths of forest in Virginia. 

Here, in his " pavillion of boughs," he gave further 
proofs of the decided character of his genius in the books 
which he read, and the exercises, strange enough in his 
hermit life, which he adopted. His " studie was Machia- 
vellie's Arte of Warre" and Marcus Aurelius ; his exer- 
cise, a good horse with a lance and ring. His moods, er- 
rant though they were, did not, it seems, interfere with that 
self-training, which was certainly the best that he could 
have chosen for service in his future career. The horse, 
the lance and the ring brought to him the skill, and show 
him to have been imbued with the spirit of chivalry. Few 
of the courtiers of King James are likely to have been as 
decidedly inclined to such exercises. As a hunter he 
practised some other of the minor arts of war. His food 
was chiefly venison of his own takmg. He states this fact 
slily thus : "his food was thought to be more of venison 
than anything else," as if he were troubled with certain 
misgivings on the subject of the game-laws. His other 
wants were supplied by a servant, through whose means 
he still maintained some slight intercourse with the world 
which he had forsworn. 

His library, thus limited to two volumes, and those not 
of a character to beget the impulse to such an eccentric 
mode of life as that which he adopted, we are to look for 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 21 

this impulse to the natural constitution of his mind, urged 
by an ambition which is yet vague in its developments, 
and taught by a judgment yet in the green of youth, and 
from the early exercise of his will, equally uncertain in 
its aim and resolved upon its prosecution. Smith had 
something of the poet in him, and wrote smooth verses 
upon occasions, but does not seem to have been much a 
reader of the poets. His romantic excesses were probably 
all native, the natural overflow of a mind, vigorous, easily 
excited, and so full of spontaneous utterance, as necessarily 
to rush at times beyond the limits of a sober and restrain- 
ing reason. And yet it is only by a course of reasoning 
based upon the ordinary habits of the merely social man, 
that we shall see anything to astonish us or to provoke 
censure in the hermit seclusion and studies of our hero. 
The eccentricity of this mode of life soon had the effect 
of making him notorious ; and here we may remark that, 
in all probability, this was not the most disagreeable result 
which he anticipated from his present strange career. 
The mind of Smith, naturally ambitious of distinction, was 
swelling like that of the Spaniard. He was one of those 
who crave to live ever in the eyes of men — who enter- 
tain a passion, born of impetuous blood, which seeks pre- 
sent distinction and reward for performances, and which 
works constantly with an appetite for present homage. 
To such persons the applause of contemporaries is fame, 
or such a foretaste of it, as to make it certain that they 
shall attain the object which they seek. He was not dis- 
pleased when the rustic world around him began to stare 
at the strange stories which they heard about their neigh- 
bor hermit. He found his pleasure, and possibly his pro- 
fit also, in provoking the wonder of the peasantry. By 
degrees the fame of our anchorite extended to the weal- 
thier classes, and at length an Italian gentleman, a sort of . 



22 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

master of the horse to the Earl of Lincoln, was persuaded 
to seek out our hermit in his " pavillion of boughs." He 
did so. He penetrated to the forest den of Smith, and 
made himself known to him. The visit did not offend our 
hero, who, in all probability, began to tire of his seclusion. 
The conversation of the Italian pleased him, and his horse- 
manship no less. Gradually, at length, as an intimacy 
grew up between them, Smith was beguiled from his soli- 
tude, which he abandoned with his new associate. But the 
society which he thus acquired did not suffice for the 
exacting spirit of our adventurer any more than did that 
of Willoughby. " Long these pleasures conld not content 
him," and he chafed in his inactivity, as the lion, born for 
the desertj chafes at the close limits of his cage. Smith 
was not encaged. He was not to bo kept. He was of 
that hardy nature which yearns for the conflict, and 
loses the pleasant consciousness of its strength, unless in 
the absolute enjoyment of the struggle. He probably ap- 
peared even to disadvantage in moments of repose and 
quiet. Be this as it may, in such quiet as that for which 
his solitude had been surrendered he was not willing to 
remain. His Italian friend failed to keep him at Tatter- 
sail's, and we find him, very soon after, breaking away 
from this intimacy and from England, once more to seek 
his fortunes in the Low Countries. 



CHAPTER II. 

" Thus," says our hero, in his own narrative, " when 
France and the Netherlands had taught him to ride a 
horse, and to use his armes, with such rudiments of warre 
as his tender yeeres in those martial schooles could attaine 
unto, he was desirous to see more of the world, and to try 
his fortune against the Turkes, both lamenting and repenting 
to have seene so many Christians slaughter one another." 
The passage would seem to imply that he had a second 
time seen service in the Low Countries. Yet of this 
period and service we have no particulars. It was his pe- 
riod of apprenticeship only, in which fortune afforded him 
no opportunities of distinction, or his " tender years" 
made it impossible that he should avail himself of them. 
He was at this time but nineteen years old, hopeful, san- 
guine and warmly confiding, as is usually the case with 
persons of this temperament. He was to incur its usual 
penalties, and to pay dearly for that caution which expe- 
rience alone can teach, and which is so important for 
him who seeks to be a leader among men. We next 
find him in company with four French gallants, famous 
rogues it would seem, who flatter his vanity and take ad- 
vantage of his youth. Nobody is more easily betrayed 
than the youth having large enthusiasm of character, and 
a warm faith in what is allotted for his performance. One 
of these cunning Frenchmen passes himself off upon our 
hero as a nobleman. The rest are his attendants. It is 
not difficult to deceive a character such as that of Smith. 
Vigilant by nature against the enemy, the same nature 
places no sentinel against the approach of friendship. In 



24 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

this guise, our cunning Frenchmen play their parts to ad- 
miration. Our hero yields them his full heart. They 
persuade him to go with them into France, where they 
should not only obtain the necessary means for going 
against the Turks, but letters from certain distinguished 
persons to the general of the Hungarian army. The pre- 
tences were all plausible, the end to be attained of consi- 
derable importance. The parties embarked in a small 
vessel, the captain of which, if not a party to the designs 
of the Frenchmen, at least was disposed to wink at their 
proceedings. Smith had money and fine clothes. In 
these respects they were less liberally provided. He was 
a youth, very confiding, and might be plucked with safety. 
It does not seem to have required much skill in the ope- 
ration. It was on a dark and gloomy night in winter, 
when they reached the port of St. Valery, in Picardy. 
Under cover of the night the conspirators, with all their 
own baggage and that of Smith, were taken ashore by the 
captain without the knowledge of the other passengers. 
It was not until the rogues were fully beyond reach that 
the treacherous shipmaster returned to his vessel. When 
the robbery was detected it was without present remedy. It 
is very probable that the captain was a sharer of the spoils. 
He no doubt commanded one of those coasting luggers of 
mixed character, to be found at that period in all the mari- 
time countries of Europe, which played according to circum- 
stances the character of the smuo-orler or of the honest trader. 

DO 

The extreme youth of Smith, and the manner in which he 
had been stripped of everything, awakened the compassion 
of the passengers, while the evident treachery of the cap- 
tain enkindled all their rage. Some of them supplied the 
present wants of the former. He had been left wholly 
without clothes, those only which he wore excepted ; and 
with but a single penny in his pocket, was compelled to 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 25 

part with his cloak for the payment of his passage. The 
indignation against the master of the vessel had nearly led 
to disastrous consequences. The passengers were kept 
with difficulty from putting him to death in their fury, and 
nothing but their ignorance of the ship's management pre- 
vented them from running away with her. Fortunately 
these intemperate counsels did not prevail, and the vessel 
was relieved of her angry inmates without suffering, except 
in the fright of the captain, which, we may be allowed to 
hope, afforded him a proper lesson of prudence, if not of 
honesty. 

In these events our luckless adventurer was not wholly 
without consolation. He found friends among his new 
companions. One of these, in particular, who was him- 
self an outlawed man, and might therefore be naturally ex- 
pected to sympathize with one so young and so friendless, 
helped him to money, and brought him from place to place 
to a knowledge of his own friends, by whom he was every- 
where hospitably entertained. His story interests the peo- 
ple, who are won by his youth, the frankness of his temper, 
and the graces of his person ; those externals of character 
and figure which prompted Hume to think of him as a 
courtier for King James. He meets with kindness and 
protection finally from lords and ladies, whose names he 
gives, but whom it is scarcely possible for us to identify, 
disguised as they are by the antique English spelling of our 
author. With these persons he might, as he writes, 
" have recreated himself so longe as he woulde ;" but, as 
he adds, '' such pleasant pleasures suited little with his 
poore estate and his restlesse spirit, that could never finnde 
content to receive such noble favours as he could neither 
deserve nor requite." Accordingly, breaking away from 
his new friends as he had done from the old, he resumed 
his wanderings, seemingly without an object beyond the 
3 



26 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

gratification of that restlessness of mood and independence 
of resolve, which were the prime characteristics of his 
genius for ever after. In these wanderings he is made to 
endure much misery and privation. His means are soon 
exhausted, his stout heart begins to fail him, probably be- 
cause of the want of food ; and, one day, finding himself 
in a forest, he flings himself, nearly dead with grief and 
cold, " beside a faire fountaine under a tree," as if resolved 
to yield to despair and to go no farther. Here he is found 
by a neighboring farmer, who takes pity on his condition, re- 
lieves his wants, and gives him means to resume his jour- 
ney. And thus he fared, travelling from province to pro- 
vince, and from port to port, following the bent of a way- 
ward inclination, still dissatisfied and vexed with those 
vague yearnings which naturally troubled the mind of him 
who has not yet learned to address himself to his legiti- 
mate objects. While thus wandering, the fortune which 
refuses to find him better opportunities, helps to gratify 
his revenge. Alone, and vagabondizing in Brittany, he 
accidentally meets in a wood with one of the treacherous 
Frenchmen who had robbed him of his clothes and money. 
This fellow was named Cursell. The parties recognized 
each other at a glance, and under an equal impulse their 
weapons were bared in the same instant. With an avow- 
ed object or enemy before him Smith was decisive always. 
They had no words. " The piercing injuries" of our hero, 
in his own language, " had small patience." His superior 
skill, together with (as we may surely assume) the good- 
ness of his cause, gave him rather an easy victory. He 
tells of it without any boasting. The fight took place in 
the presence of several persons, the inhabitants of an old 
tower standing in the vicinity. In the hearing of these 
he extorted an ample confession of his guilt from the 
robber he had overthrown and wounded. But he obtained 

I 






^^#==*|, f *«J 




LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 27 

no further satisfaction. It appears from CurselPs con- 
fession that the rogues had quarrelled among themselves 
for a division of the spoils, that they had fought, and he 
had been driven away from any participation of it. With 
this story, and the honorable victory which he had won. 
Smith was compelled to be satisfied ; and leaving the wound- 
ed robber to his own conscience and the care of the peas- 
antry before whom he had confessed, he directed his steps 
to the seat of the Earl of Ployer, whom he had formerly 
known during the wars in France. By this nobleman and 
others, his kinsmen. Smith was received with distinction. 
They took pains to show him the country, '' Saint Malo's 
Mount, Saint Michael, and divers other places in Brittany," 
and when he was ready to depart, they supplied him with 
means and sent him on his way rejoicing. Pursuing such 
a route as would enable him to see the country, and gra- 
tify the caprices of his curiosity, he at length made his 
way to Marseilles, where he took passage in a ship for 
Italy. 

He was destined on this voyage to experience another 
of those trials, by which it would seem that fortune studies 
to task the strength, while she confers upon genius the 
degree of hardihood which is essential for great achieve- 
ments. The vessel in which Smith sailed was crowded 
with pilgrims of the Catholic faith, making their way to 
Rome. She had scarcely put to sea when she was driven 
by stress of weather into the harbor of Toulon. This 
mishap, and possibly some indiscretion of his own, drew 
all eyes particularly upon himself. They discovered that 
he was the only Protestant on board. He was the Jonah, 
accordingly, to whom their misfortune was ascribed, and 
they exercised their own ill-humor, and his patience, by 
denouncing his religion and his nation, in no measured 
language, to his teeth. How, with a temper so quick and 



28 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

passionate, he forbore his defiance at this treatment, or 
that he did forbear, is not told us. The matter was not 
mended when they resumed the voyage. The bad wea- 
ther continued, and the vessel was once more compelled 
to seek the refuge of a port. They cast anchor under the 
little isle of St. Mary, which lies off Nice, in Savoy. Here 
the pious Catholics once more gave vent to their indigna- 
tion at the presence of so pernicious a heretic among 
them. *' They wildly railed on his dreade sovraigne, 
Queen Elizabeth ;" " hourly cursing him not only for a 
Hugonoity but his nation they swore were all pyrats." In 
short, concluding " that they never should have faire 
weather so long as hee was aboard them, their disputa- 
tions grew to that passion" that at length they cast him 
into the sea. We are told by one of the authorities, that 
he used his cudgel soundly among them before they pro- 
ceeded to this extremity ; but the assertion is grossly 
improbable, allowing anything for his discretion, and his 
own narrative affords no sanction for the story. That he 
may have defended himself when they offered to lay 
hands upon him — that he did defend himself — is probable 
enough. But that he offered violence in anticipation of 
this proceeding is highly questionable. Smith, even at 
this early day, was not without discretion. He was bold 
enough, but scarcely so rash or so thoughtless as, without 
help, to rush into conflict with a whole ship-load of angry 
enemies. That he met their vituperations with responses 
fashioned in a like style — that he gave them as good as 
they sent in the way of spiritual doctrine, and berated the 
pope as savagely as they cursed his " dreade sovraigne, 
Elizabeth," may be admitted; and in this way he may 
have precipitated those extremities, which at a later day 
his prudence would have taught him to avoid. But, whe- 
ther imprudent or merely unfortunate, the storm still pre- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 29 

vailing, he was dismissed by the^e pious pilgrims to the 
tender mercies of the deep. Well for him was it that the 
vessel was so nigh the shore. It was among the accom- 
phshments of his desultory mode of life that he was an 
able swimmer. His heart did not fail him, nor his limbs. 
Buffeting the seas manfully, he succeeded in making his 
way, with little hazard or difficulty, to the dry land on 
St. Mary's isle. The place was uninhabited, except by a 
few kine or goats ; and here, but for his better fortune, he 
might have become another Alexander Selkirk, with a 
temper quite as well prepared as his to make the most of 
his barren empire. But the very next day he was taken 
off by a French vessel, which, like his own, had put in to 
find shelter from the storm. This vessel was commanded 
by one Captain La Roche, of St. Malo, who proved to be 
a friend of the Earl of Ployer. When he ascertained the 
friendship of this nobleman for Smith, he treated him with 
the utmost kindness and consideration. 

To the roving mind of our hero it did not much matter 
to what quarter of the globe his face was turned, and, 
well entertained, he made no sort of objection to accom- 
panying his new acquaintance on his voyage. They 
sailed accordingly to Alexandria, in Egypt, Smith does 
not tell us in what capacity he went with Captain La 
Roche, nor whether he participated, except as a looker on, 
in any of the proceedings of the latter. But he was of an 
age and a character which must have made him highly 
useful in any situation, and we may readily conceive that 
he was not simply " an idle mouth" on the passage. Dis- 
charging her freight at Alexandria, they went to Scande- 
roon, " rather," says Smith, ^' to see what ships were in 
the roade than anything else." The truth seems to be 
that our vessel of Brittany was something more than a 

merchantman. She could serve a turn at other purposes, 
3* 



30 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

and her cruise simply " to see what ships were in the 
roade" was not a quest of idle curiosity. " Keeping their 
course by Cypres and the coast of Asia, sayling by Rhodes, 
the Archipellagans, Candia and the coast of Grecia, and 
the isle of Zeffaloniay^^ they lay-to for a few days, evidently 
on the watch for prey, between the isle of Corfu and the 
Cape of Otranto at the entrance of the Adriatic Sea. 

Here they did not watch in vain. Their cruise was 
rewarded by an encounter with a Venetian argosy, richly 
laden with gold, silks, velvets, tissue, and other rare pro- 
ducts of that genius and invention, in which the Venetians 
were then very much in advance of the age. This 
encounter enlightens us somewhat in regard to the object 
of our Frenchman's course, although it is not certain 
that his quest was a Venetian vessel. It does not appear 
that war at that time existed between France and the Re- 
public, but this was not necessary to make insecure the 
rich argosies of the one nation, meeting with a cruiser 
of the other, where no cognizance of their mutual doings 
might be had. The suspicious demeanor of our ves- 
sel of Brittany startled the fears of the vigilant Vene- 
tian. He very imprudently answered the civil salutation 
of Capt. La Roche with a shot, affording him in all proba- 
bility the very pretext which he desired. This shot^killing 
one man on board the Frenchman, brought on a general 
action. The conflict which followed was exceedingly 
fierce. Twice in the space of an hour and a half did the 
French board the Venetian, and twice were they gallantly 
repelled. A third attempt resulted in the two vessels taking 
fire. The mutual danger led to their separation. The 
fire was soon quenched, but not the fury of the assailants. 
Their rage at being baffled led to more desperate efforts, 
and these were successful. The Venetian, in a sinking 
condition, yielded to the captors. They went to work to 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 31 

stop the leaks only that they might be enabled to rifle her 
of her valuable merchandize. This required twenty-four 
hours at the least, and Smith tells us that the " silkes, vel- 
vets, cloth of gold and tissue, pyastres, chicqueens and 
sultanies which is gold," of which they despoiled her in 
that space of time, '' was wonderful." Having crammed 
their own vessel, they cast off the prize, leaving in her as 
much good merchandize as would have '-^ fraughted such 
another Britaine." The Venetian was four or five hundred 
tons in burthen, the Frenchman but two hundred. The 
latter lost fifteen, the former twenty men in the engage- 
ment — a sufficient proof of its severity. That Smith took 
conspicuous part in the fight, with the hearty good will 
and the stubborn courage of the Englishman, may be infer- 
red from his share of the spoils, which amounted to '' five 
hundred chicqueens (sequins) and a little box," God-sent 
him (that is, we suppose, the immediate spoil of his own 
right hand) with as many more. The box was probably 
one of jewels. 

Smith, so far as mere pecuniary fortune was concerned, 
had every reason to be satisfied with this adventure. But 
he was not satisfied to pursue the career thus handsomely 
opening before his eyes. He prepares to leave La Roche, 
and, at his own request, with his sequins and his jewelry, 
is set on shore in Piedmont. He parts kindly with La 
Roche, whom he styles " this noble Britaine," and who 
seems to have treated him with an appreciating and just 
consideration. His next journey is for Leghorn ; and, 
making the tour of Italy, he meets the friends with whom 
his first pilgrimage had been made, Lord VVilloughby and 
his brother. He finds them under painful circumstances 
upon which he does not dilate : " Cruelly wounded in a 
desperate fray, yet to their exceeding great honour." 
Yet what had been their experience, compared with his, 



32 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

from the moment of their first separation, when all of 
them were boys, to that of their present meeting ? What 
a life of adventure had the nobleman of nature led in com- 
parison with the easy fortunes which were theirs — the 
noblemen of society ? What lessons had he learned of 
courage, and wisdom, and expedient, to serve him in a 
perilous career, and to secure him future eminence ? 

Smith visits Rome, where it was " his chance to see 
Pope Clement the Eighth, with many cardinals, creepe 
up the holy stayres." From Rome he went to Naples, 
and other great places, " to satisfie his eye with faire 
cities, and the kingdome's nobilitie ;" and after a very am- 
ple tour, the description of which, as contained in his own 
narrative, is exceedingly bald and valueless, but in which 
we have reason to suppose that he was pretty well re- 
lieved of all his sequins, we find him suddenly awakened 
to a recollection of the original purpose for which he sail- 
ed from France — that of joining the armies of Rodolph of 
Germany, then waging war against the Turks, under the 
third Mahomet. From Venice he proceeded to Ragusa, 
on the Adriatic, where he lingered " some time to see that 
barren, broken coast of Albania and Dalmatia ;" thence 
to Capo D' Tstria, " travelling the maine of poor Slavonia," 
till he came to Gratz in Styria, the residence of Ferdi- 
nand, Archduke of Austria, and afterwards Emperor of 
Germany. Here he met with an Englishman and an 
Irish Jesuit, by whom, having made them acquainted with 
his desires, he was presented to Lord Ebersbaught, 
Baron Kisell, the Earl of Meldritch, and other persons of 
distinction in the imperial army. He was soon successful 
in finding his way to the confidence of these noblemen ; 
and attaching himself to the staff* of the latter, who was a 
colonel of cavalry, proceeded with his regiment soon after 
to Vienna. 



CHAPTER III. 

The time at which Smith made his appearance as a vol- 
'unteer in the armies of Rodolph was particularly favorable 
to the desires of one having so large an appetite for mili- 
tary achievements. A cruel war had long been raging 
between the Christian power of Germany and the Grand 
Seignior. The close of the career of Amurath the Third 
had been hastened and embittered by disaster. He entail- 
ed upon his successor, the third Mahomet, the necessity, 
or more properly the seeming policy, for continuing the 
same bloody warfare. The year 1601, at the close of 
which Smith made his appearance in this new field, had 
been distinguished by many terrible conflicts, the advan- 
tage remaining in some measure with the Turks. They 
had ravaged Hungary, and taken some of its best for- 
tresses ; and Ibrahim Bashaw, with an immense army, 
had laid siege to Canissia, a place of strength on the bor- 
ders of Styria, nearly surrounded by deep marshes. The 
Christian forces undertaking the relief of this place were 
defeated with great slaughter, and Canissia was finally 
surrendered. Flushed with this success, the Turks pushed 
forward to other conquests, and, with a force of twenty 
thousand men, laid siege to Olympach. The defence of 
this town was assigned to Lord Ebersbaught, one of the 
officers of the imperial army, to whom our hero had been 
introduced at Gratz. In this new acquaintance he had 
found a willing listener to the narrative of his military 
career, and to certain suggestions, which might have been 
original with Smith, for the improvement of the art of 
war. Something of his views may have been gathered 
2* 



34 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

from his reading, more perhaps from his experience, and a 
good deal from the activity of his mind, which could 
digest with equal independence the material derived from 
these twofold sources. Smith's brain seems to have been 
full to overflowing of strategic matter. He was at once 
the thinker and the worker : that rare combination of 
character, as we have said before, by which men of action 
are distinguished. He was always — to use his own phrase 
— " trying such conclusions as he projected to undertake." 
Some of these conclusions, with which he succeeded in 
impressing Lord Ebersbaught, were, as we shall see 
hereafter, of considerable service in obtaining advantages 
over the enemy. That he so readily obtained the ear of 
this nobleman and others, must be ascribed to an address 
of peculiar felicity. The English friends who introduced 
him could scarcely do more for him than say that he had 
seen service, and had experienced many vicissitudes. As 
yet he could boast none of the distinction of having been 
a leader of men. He had served a valuable apprentice- 
ship ; it was now for the first time that he was to reap its 
fruits. 

Ebersbaught, in addition to the evident qualifications of 
the youth, most probably saw that he was ingenuous, that 
he did not belong to the ordinary class of military adven- 
turers. It was a real passion for glory, and not a thirst 
after spoil, that brought him at that doubtful juncture into 
Hungary. Certainly, as we have shown, no moment 
could have been more unpromising for the imperial forces 
than that in which our hero joined himself to the regiment 
of the Earl of Meldritch — the Imperialists, defeated in 
successive actions, their strong places overthrown, their 
country ravaged, the Turk growing daily more confident 
and strong, and Olympach, greatly shattered by the be- 
siegers, cut off from all communication with its friends, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 35 

and nearly hopeless of succor from without. The forces 
appointed for its relief, under the Baron Kisell, a general 
of artillery, were inadequate to the task assigned them, 
and could give assistance in no other way than by occa- 
sionally annoying the besiegers, whenever opportunity 
offered for preventing them from obtaining supplies, or by 
cutting off a detachment. It was quite too feeble to 
attempt any more formidable enterprise against the main 
body of the besiegers. The regiment of Meldritch formed 
a part of this command of Kisell, and, as cavalry, was no 
doubt actively engaged in the business of this campaign, 
that being of a nature particularl}' to commend the use of 
horse. Of Smith's share in this business he tells us little, 
till we find him serving as a volunteer immediately about 
the person of the baron. That he had proved useful, and 
had succeeded in drawing attention to himself, may be 
inferred from this circumstance. He was about to prove 
himself more useful still. In the straitened condition of 
Olympach, Kisell was exceedingly anxious to attempt 
something in concert with the besieged ; but how to effect 
this simultaneous operation was beyond his ingenuity. 
Communication with the town had been long^ since cut off. 
The Turks in vastly superior force lay between them, 
and closely watched as was the place, with an army of 
twenty thousand active and barbarous enemies, who 
were never known to spare, it was not possible to find a 
soldier sufficiently daring and reckless to hazard himself 
in the attempt to pass the cordon which their vigilance 
maintained. In this difficulty Smith came to the relief of 
his commander. He reminded him that among; the nume- 
rous schemes of a military character, which he had com- 
municated to Lord Ebersbaught, now in defence of Olym- 
pach, there was one of a telegraphic alphabet by which, 
with signal torches corresponding regularly with the let- 



36 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

ters of the alphabet, a correspondence might be carried on 
between persons not too far asunder for properly detecting 
and discriminating the lights. This scheme of a telegraph, 
as old as the days of the Greeks and Romans, may have 
been picked up by Smith in his military readings, but is 
by no means too intricate for his own unassisted invention. 
The fortunate circumstance was that he should have com- 
municated it to Lord Ebersbaught among his " projections" 
and " conclusions," without entertaining any distinct con- 
ception of the present emergency, by which its usefulness 
was to be determined. The hope now entertained was 
that Lord Ebersbaught would sufficiently remember the 
suggestion to comprehend the signals. At all events. 
Smith succeeded in persuading Kisell to try the experi- 
ment. Seven miles distant from the town of Olympach 
stood a mountain of considerable elevation, which seemed 
to our hero suited for his purposes. To this mountain he 
conveyed himself with the necessary agents and imple- 
ments by night. Here he first displayed three signal fires, 
equidistant from each other. These drew upon him the 
attention of the garrison, and were at once comprehended 
by the governor, whose wits, sharpened no doubt by the 
emergency, found no difficulty in recalling the scheme as 
related to him by the English adventurer. What was the 
joy of Smith when he was replied to by three torches 
from the walls of the town, showing him that his signals 
were understood ! The rest was easy. The lights were 
then displayed from the mountain in proper order so as to 
form the successive words, thus — 

" On — Thursday — at — night — I — will — charge — on — the 
— east — at — the — alarm — sally — you." 

The answer was immediate — " I will !" — and this mat- 
ter thus happily adjusted. Smith returned to camp, equally 
prepared to take part in the conflict, and to attempt further 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 37 

schemes for making it successful. His active genius con- 
ceived a plan for remedying the inferior numbers of the 
troops under Kisell ; and by this means to keep in such a 
state of doubt and uncertainty a large portion of the be- 
sieging army, as to prevent them taking much or any part 
in the battle. The Turks were divided into two bodies, 
of ten thousand men each. These bodies lay apart, sepa- 
rated by a river. The entire force of Kisell amounted 
only to ten thousand. To fall suddenly upon one of the 
Turkish bodies, and to restrain the other, by reason of 
its own fears, from any attempt to second or assist it, 
Was the desirable object. The river by which they were 
separated favored the scheme of Smith. This was to 
prepare some " two or three thousand pieces of match, 
fastened to divers small lines of an hundred fathom iu 
length, being armed with powder," which " might all be 
fired and stretched at an instant, before the alarm, upon 
the plaine of Hj^snaburg, supported by two staves at each 
line's end, and which would thus seem so many mus- 
keteers." This scheme, which had for its object to render 
vigilant the one half of the Turkish army, which it was 
not intended to assail, in watching the imaginary musket- 
eers, is easily comprehended. 

The result was eminently successful. While ten thou- 
sand of the Turks, wholly unendangered, were thus plac- 
ed hors de combat^ waiting anxiously for the momentary 
charge from the foe that had no existence except in their 
fancies, the actual warriors of Kisell, with Smith among 
them, were penetrating with havoc and slaughter among 
the ten thousand that lay encamped on the opposite side 
of the river. The ruse was admirably seconded on the 
part of the garrison. The Turks, bewildered and distract- 
ed, ran to and fro, without concert or courage, and offer- 
ing no effectual opposition, were slaughtered in great niim- 
4 



38 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

bers. More than a third of the ten thousand thus at- 
tacked, were slain or drowned in the attempt to swim 
the river to their comrades, who, on the other side, main- 
tained such a resolute and watchful front against the 
imaginary army, as most effectually to discourage its 
assault. 

The result was a triumphant one for the assailants 
Two thousand picked soldiers were thrown into the gar- 
rison, and the Turks, hopeless now of its conquest, retired 
in disgrace from before its walls. Our hero was not with- 
out his recompense for his share in an achievement, the 
success of which was due so largely to his ingenuity and 
skill. He received a command of two hundred and fifty 
horse in the regiment of his friend, the Earl of Meldritch, 
to say nothing of other honors and rewards. 



CHAPTER IV. 

A BRIEF interregnum, which seemed like peace, followed 
the relief of Olympach, to be succeeded by newer and 
greater preparations for the war. But the soul and intel- 
lect of Smith were not at rest. His was not the spirit to 
which repose is desirable ; but, if not absolutely in action, 
contemplating action with the eye of his imagination, he 
was perpetually schooling himself for its vicissitudes. 
Never was mind more observant than his of the progress 
and condition of the world about him. His narrative, as 
a volume of travels, would be absolutely worthless to the 
reader who seeks for anything more than to ascertain the 
simple fact that the traveller himself had been an observer. 
Of this there can be no question. The mind of Smith 
was not given to description, and disdained details. It 
was of a sort fond of generalization, and taking in at a 
glance all the vital conditions of its subject. He describes 
little, but you see that he comprehends. He gives but 
a few words to the manners and customs of a people, but 
you see in these words that he conceives and appreciates 
them. The military eye of our hero is evidently 
keenly exercised in all the countries that he visits. He 
comments shrewdly on their forts and garrisons, on their 
weapons of war, their training, or the ease or difficulty 
with which their strong places may be overthrown. These 
notices, sprinkled over all his pages, show tne source of 
that frequent mental provocation by which the resources 
of his own genius were brought into exercise and develop- 
ment. They show him watchful and shrewd, not easily 
persuaded by novelty, not easily deceived by show — of a 



40 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

calm, clear mind, a firm spirit, and one which, if it has not 
survived its youthful enthusiasm, is at least no longer 
to be deluded by it. 

It w^as in busy study and contemplation that Smith em- 
ployed the interregnum following the relief of Olympach, 
and the resumption of the actual events of war. The 
campaign opened early in the year. The levies of the 
Turks were prosecuted with unwearied diligence and 
activity, while, on the other hand, three large bodies of 
troops were raised by the emperor. One of these was 
commanded by the Archduke Mathias ; one by Ferdi- 
nand, Archduke of Styria ; and a third by Gonzago, 
governor of Hungary. The lieutenant of the Archduke 
Mathias was the Duke Mercury (Mercceur), who led a 
force of thirty thousand men, ten thousand of whom were 
French. Smith served in this division, still under the 
immediate command of the Earl of Meldritch. To Ma- 
thias was given the defence of Lower Hungary, and the 
Duke Mercury began the campaign vigorously by laying 
siege to Alba Regalis, a strongly fortified town in posses- 
sion of the Turks, and considered in that day almost im- 
pregnable. Here Smith's talents as an engineer were put 
in requisition ; and here we again find him counselling 
novel inventions in war, by which to obtain unusual advan- 
tages. He suggested to the Earl of Meldritch the em- 
ployment of a sort of shell, which, filled with combustible 
matter, was discharged from a sling. These were called 
" Fiery Dragons" by their inventor, who describes them 
as " round-bellied earthen pots," filled with " hard gun- 
powder and musket bullets," and covered with a coating 
of brimstone, pitch, and turpentine. His plan was favora- 
bly entertained. He was permitted to try the experiment, 
which he did successfully. Having first learned from 
spies and deserters, or prisoners escaped from the town, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 41 

in what quarters it was usual for great numbers of people 
to assemble on occasions of alarm, his bombs, or hand- 
grenades, to the number of forty or fifty, were flung at 
midnight into the city, directed to those places where the 
greatest crowds were likely to be brought together. " It 
was a fearful sight," says Smith, " to see the short flam- 
ing course of their flight in the air ; but, presently after 
their fall, the lamentable noise of the miserable slaughtered 
Turkes was most wonderful to heare." These combusti- 
bles had the farther effect of firino; the suburbs, " which 
so troubled the Turkes to quench, that had there beene 
any means to have assaulted them, they could hardly have 
resisted the fire and their enemies." The Turks fought 
bravely, nevertheless, making frequent sallies, and doing 
very slaughterous deeds whenever they came forth. But 
valor did not avail them. The place was finally taken by 
a bold and well executed manoeuvre, which gave to the 
besiegers possession of the city. The bashaw by whom 
it was defended was faithful to his trust. Desperately 
fighting, and disputing every inch of ground with the 
assailants, he drew together a select body of five hundred 
men before his own palace, resolved in perishing to sell 
his life dearly. The conflict was a terrible one. The 
Turks were almost cut to pieces, and the bashaw saved in 
his own spite by the Eail of Meldritch, w^ho, with his 
own hands, protected him from the fury of his troops. 
This city had been in possession of the Moslem for sixty 
years. They valued it accordingly. An army of sixty 
thousand men, under Hassan Bashaw, had been sent to its 
relief at the beginning of the siege, and was rapidly press- 
ing forward when the news of its conquest was received. 
This did not arrest the march of the Turkish army. The 
loss of Alba Regalis was a severe stroke, seriously felt at 
the beginning of the campaign, and a subject of deep mor- 



42 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

tification with the Turks. Hassan Bashaw was disposed 
to risk much for its recovery. Pressing forward with all 
his energy, it was his hope to surprise the army of the 
Imperialists before they could well repair the breaches in 
the walls. He was mistaken in this expectation. The 
Duke Mercury had promptly provided for the defence of 
the place ; and, apprised of the undisciplined and inferior 
character of the Turkish levies, he adopted the bold deter- 
mination of marching out with twenty thousand men to 
meet them. The two armies encountered on the plains of 
Girke. The battle was joined upon the march, regiment 
after regiment mingling in the melee as they severally came 
upon the ground. The conflict was obstinate and bloody. 
If the Moslems lacked discipline there was no deficiency 
of valor, and valor makes so large an element of success- 
ful warfare, that it will not do to overlook or disregard it 
when estimating the resources of a foe. Besides, the 
Turks were thrice the number of the Christians. Disci- 
pline at length prevailed, after a long and murderous strug- 
gle. The skill and practised valor of the forces of Duke 
Mercury more than supplied the deficiency of number, and 
with equal courage and bravery effectually baffled that of 
the foe. The battle closed only with the night, nor was 
the affair then concluded, since, as it has been said of the 
British in recent times, the Turk did not know when he 
was beaten. The affair was destined to be resumed with 
the beginning of another day. 

Smith approved his valor in the conflict, was wounded, 
and had his horse shot under him. But he was not the 
warrior to be content with this, and to remain dismounted 
when there were so many noble steeds running masterless 
around him. He was soon supplied with the means of 
renewing his labors in a field, in which his ardent and 
fearless spirit found so much to delight him. The wound 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 43 

of Smith in this action he calls a sore one. Nothing is 
said of the part which he took in the final assault when 
Alba Regalis was carried ; yet if we recollect that the 
last desperate struggle with the governor took place 
with the troops under the immediate command of the Earl 
of Meldritch, we have every reason to conclude that our 
hero had his share in the worst dangers of that bloody 
conflict. 

Night, which separated the combatants on the plains of 
Girke, left the affair still doubtful. But the Turks thought 
otherwise. Hassan Bashaw was a brave man, and had 
the most perfect Moslem faith in the sword and doctrines 
of Mohammed. Flattering himself that the Christians 
were wholly in his clutches, he committed the gross mili- 
tary error of detaching twenty thousand of his men, and 
sending them off* to begin the leaguer of that town which 
he had been marching to relieve. He proposed to finish 
the affair with Duke Mercury the next day with the forces 
which remained. Never was general more mistaken. He 
failed in both his objects. The precautions which the 
Duke had taken before leaving Alba Regalis, in providing 
amply for its safety, without regard to his movements or 
fate, enabled the garrison to beat off and baffle the assail- 
ants. The situation of the Duke himself was much more 
hazardous. With the return of daylight the generals of 
both armies opened their eyes with an increased respect 
for each other, and each proceeded to intrench himself 
where he lay, under sight of his enemy. Thus they lay 
for two or three days, the precautions of the Imperialists 
being rather greater than those of the Turks, as was pro- 
per to their inferior numbers. By the latter they were 
frequently taunted with their weakness, and defied to come 
from behind their trenches. These provocations finally 
goaded them to the encounter. The Christians were led 



44 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

out by the Rhinegrave, by Culnitz, and Meldritch, in 
three bodies. The struggle was a short one. The Turks 
were driven to the cover of their intrenchments, with a 
loss of six thousand men ; the Imperialists forbearing to 
press their advantage, because of the sudden appearance 
of a large body of troops, coming from an unexpected 
quarter. The success thus obtained, while it lessened the 
Turkish appetite for a renewal of the game, did not increase 
the courage of the Christians. We are not told of their 
losses in the two conflicts which had already taken place ; 
nor of the character of that body of men, whose sudden 
appearance in the midst of the last battle prevented Duke 
Mercury from pressing his advantage to a final victory. 
In all probability there were good reasons in his own 
weakness for this forbearance. Thus intrenched, the two 
armies lay watching each other for some days more, until 
at length, growing impatient, or hopeless of any good 
result from longer delay, Hassan Bashaw broke up his 
camp, and retired from his trenches ; the Imperialists 
hanging upon his march, and assailing his rear frequently 
and with success. The Turks fled to Buda, and the Duke 
divided his army into three parts. One of these divisions, 
consisting of six thousand men, was given to the Earl of 
Meldritch, who was sent to assist George Busca against 
the Transylvanians. With this division went our adven- 
turer, and to its fortunes we must confine our attention. 
Our notice of the history of the country, as a matter of 
course, will be confined to such glimpses only as are neces- 
sary to a proper comprehension of the part taken by Smith, 
and the relation to public events in which each occurrence 
finds him. Transylvania at this period was assailed by 
very different enemies. Sigismund Bathor, the native 
prince of the country, was contending with the Emperor 
of Germany on one hand, and with the Turks on the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 45 

other, who were the deadly enemies of both. While the 
latter were the invaders of his land, the former was am- 
bitious of its sovereignty. Meldritch had been sent 
against Sigismund, but being a native of Transylvania, he 
preferred serving the native prince to the invader. He 
was perhaps the more readily persuaded to this, as he found 
Sigismund already in possession of the best footholds of the 
country. He did not find it difficult to divert the arms of 
his followers into the direction which he himself proposed 
to take ; particularly, indeed, as he could urge upon them 
the better booty to be won from the Turks, than that 
which could possibly be gleaned from the poor natives, 
his countrymen. The Emperor had not been a very good 
paymaster, and this was another argument easily per- 
suading to a change of service. Besides, why fight 
against Christians, when the Turkish enemies were before 
them, at once the foes of their country and their faith .'' 
A war, too, carried on against these, was a war in favor 
of both of the Christian princes, though they might be 
contending in deadly hate against each other. We can- 
not reproach the Earl of Meldritch and his followers with 
their change of service. Smith, certainly, had neither 
moral nor social obligations to adhere to the banner of 
the Germans. Nay, to have done so, in carrying war 
into Transylvania, would have been on his part a gross 
offence against society and morals. His own previous 
convictions would have denounced him, as he had long 
since " repented and lamented to have seene so many 
Christians slaughter one another ;" and he had sought the 
army of the Imperialists, with the express desire to " trie 
his fortune against the Turkes." 

He was still to enjoy the pleasure, Sigismund was very 
well pleased to obtain the services of a captain so brave 
and well experienced as Meldritch, and readily consented 



46 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

that he should endeavor to drive the Turks out of his 
country. Tt so happened that they held possession of 
those very portions of Transylvania in which the earPs 
family estates were situated. His motives were therefore 
quite as personal as patriotic. He began his career with 
his wonted vigor. 



CHAPTER V. 

In the campaign which followed, Smith was employed in a 
manner which must have afforded him an excellent train- 
ing for his future career among our North American In- 
dians. The country, in which its operations were to take 
place, was one equally wild and savage in its natural and 
social aspects. The greatest trials of strength were to 
be found in regions which to ordinary courage would 
have seemed inaccessible. In these regions had the 
Turks planted their stronghold. They occupied the rocky 
mountains of Zarham, and ravaged the tributary plains 
and valleys. Over these wild and stony passes, in regions 
possessed by herds of bandits and renegades of all descrip- 
tions, Turks and Tartars — a people not so much Turks as 
outlaws — not so much men as savages — the troops of Mel- 
dritch must make their way to get at their enemies, and 
gain possession of his estates. They had to contend with 
a people practised in guerilla or partisan warfare — a war- 
fare more than all others calculated to draw out the 
resources of military genius, to stimulate ingenuity and acti- 
vity, and prompt courage to feats of the greatest audacity. 
Meldritch knew the country, and was by no means igno- 
rant of its difficulties. He soon brought his troops to an 
acquaintance with the predatory warriors by whom it was 
possessed. These were sought and pressed, and with 
daily and unremitting industry. Gradually, they yielded 
before his arms, and left him in possession of the plains. 
They had their cities in the mountains, and to these they 
retired from before the presence of the foe. To one of 
these, as utterly impregnable, they ascended when they 



48 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

could no longer find safety below. This was the city of 
Regall, a place of great natural strength, to which the 
military art of the day had added suitable fortifications. 
Regall was full of men, and so placed among the moun- 
tains, at one side only accessible, that nothing bat the most 
extraordinary perseverance and courage would ever think 
of subduing it. But these were the very qualities which 
the Earl of Meldritch brought against it. He had been 
twenty years a soldier, was full of resources, and had under 
him no doubt many adventurers who, like Smith, could 
contribute to his success at the perilous moment by ori- 
ginal expedients in arms. He had much at stake in the 
enterprise, and he approached it cautiously. His exami- 
nation of Regall, of its approaches, strength and general 
characteristics, was thorough and satisfactory. He began 
the siege with the opening of spring. " The earthe no 
sooner put on her greene habit," says Smith, ^' than the 
earl overspread her with his armed troops." Meldritch 
proceeded as he had begun, with great energy. He strove 
in the face of a thousand difficulties. His ordnance was 
to be carried up through narrow passes of the mountains, 
in which he was liable to capital misfortune at any moment, 
unless watched by vigilance and the most ready courage. 
A race of active mountaineers, familiar with the country, 
and practised in the sort of warfare which it requires, 
might long succeed in baffling an invader of ten times 
their numbers. The banditti in possession of the moun- 
tain were not prepared to forego the advantages of their 
position, and every step on the part of the assailants was 
distinguished by conflicts which were equally obstinate 
and bloody. But perseverance, which is moral courage 
of a distinguished order, co-operating with that of ordinary 
valor, and seconded by experience and skill, succeeded in 
arraying the force of the Christians on the table of the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 49 

mountain, and in front of Regall. The defenders of the 
city, apprised in season of the attempt against that place, 
had hned its walls with soldiers, and stored it abundantly, 
as well with provisions as with the munitions and imple- 
ments of war. Confiding in the strength of the place, 
their own numbers and courage, and the ample supplies 
which they possessed for maintaining the siege, they 
laughed to scorn the attempts of the assailant. The seem- 
ingly feeble force brought against them — for the whole 
army of Meldritch did not exceed eight thousand men — 
seemed to justify the contempt which they expressed. 
But they were soon taught another language. Even with 
this small army he succeeded in all the skirmishes in 
which they met, and had fully beleaguered them within 
the walls of Regall before he was joined by the forces of 
Prince Moyses, nine thousand in number. To him, the 
chief command was surrendered. 

The preparations of the besiegers were now deliberately 
made. These were to secure them in the position which 
they had won. It occupied near a month before they 
were able to intrench themselves fully, and to plant their 
batteries. The slowness of these proceedings increased 
the courage of the Turks. They were amused rather 
than alarmed by that deliberation, which was in truth the 
strongest proof of their danger. With a blind confidence 
in their numbers and the strength of their walls, they 
derided the besiegers with frequent messages of scorn and 
defiance. One of these messages was of the very charac- 
ter best adapted to provoke the more chivalrous per- 
sons in the Christian army, as it mingled the lofty tone 
and temper of chivalry with the insolence of inflated self- 
esteem. It roused an individual spirit in the besiegers. 
It reproached them with their inactivity — said that they 
grew fat for lack of exercise ; and — expressing a fear lest 
5 



50 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

they should suddenly depart from the city without affording 
any pastime to the ladies thereof, — proposed a defiance from 
the Lord Turbishaw to any captain having the command 
of a company. The head of the vanquished, with all that 
he possessed, was to be at the mercy of the conqueror. 
The challenge was after the fashion of knightly times, and 
these had not entirely gone out of the memories of men. 
The very motive to the offer — " to delight the ladies, who 
did long to see some courtlike pastime," partook largely 
of the best spirit of the Middle Ages. There were not 
wanting numerous brave captains in the Christian army 
whose hearts bounded to the acceptance of the challenge 
with the eagerness of the ancient war-steed, stirred sud- 
denly by the onset sounds of the trumpet ; and but a 
single mode was left of deciding upon the champion — that 
of casting lots for the noble privilege. We need not say 
that Smith was among the claimants, and that special for- 
tune befriended him. The ballot upon which his name 
was written was the first to present itself ; as if the watch- 
ful fate, for ever heedful of her favorite, had snatched 
for him the golden opportunity for fame. 

The preparations for the combat were as great as the 
anxieties for the issue were lively. A truce was made 
between the opposing armies, in order to the completion 
of arrangements for this event ; and as both parties pos- 
sessed a very equal knowledge of the sort of state which 
should distinguish such proceedings, the affair absolutely 
recalls very vividly to the mind the great jousts and 
solemn tournaments which characterized the famous deeds 
of knighthood, as they were practised a hundred years 
before. On the day appointed for the combat the Chris- 
tians were drawn out in battle array, making the most 
lavish display of banners, trophies, and heraldic insignia ; 
while the ramparts of the town were covered with fair 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 51 

ladies, and men glittering in armor. The Turkish dames 
in these regions seem not to have shrunk from a display 
of their persons to the eyes of infidels, as they were com- 
pelled to do in the more central cities of their religion. 
Living on the borders of a Christian land, some of their 
social habits might naturally enough be modified by famili- 
arity w^ith the customs of their neighbors. 

The Turkish challenger, as in duty bound, first made 
his appearance on the field. A " noise of howboys" 
announced his coming and his presence. His entree was 
calculated to rivet the attention, and compel admiration. 
He was well mounted, and clad in a suit of splendid armor. 
" On his shoulders were fixed a paire of great wings, com- 
pacted of eagle's feathers, within a ridge of silver, richly 
garnished with gold and precious stones." Three Jani- 
zaries attended him ; one going before and bearing his 
lance, the two others walking beside him and conducting 
his horse to the station which was assigned him. Such 
was the proud entrance and imposing aspect of the Turk- 
ish champion. That of Smith was far less showy. It 
does not appear that he wore any but his ordinary armor, 
or that he had any other to wear. We have reason to 
suppose, however, that he was not regardless of his per- 
sonal appearance ; particularly as he was to fight in the 
presence of the ladies. That they were pagan dames did 
not lessen his respect for the sex ; and, if the truth were 
written, he was more than usually solicitous of his toilet 
on that day. That he donned his best surcoat, that he 
selected his most showy scarf and plumage, we may con- 
jecture with suflacient safety. But he was no carpet 
knight. He did not keep the Turkish champion waiting. 
He rode into the field with a flourish of trumpets, attended 
by a page bearing his lance, — passed his foe with a cour- 
teous salute, and gracefully wheeled into the position 



52 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH, 

which was designated for him. There was no delay. At 
the sound of the trumpet the combatants rushed into the 
deadly embrace of the strife, and the encounter was ended 
with the single shock, and almost as soon as it had begun. 
So admirably true was the aim, so firm the nerves of the 
Christian champion, and so well trained his steed, that the 
lance of Smith penetrated the beaver of the Turk, and 
passing through his eye into the brain, he fell dead to the 
ground at the first thrust, without so much as grazing the 
person of his conqueror. Smith leapt to the ground, un- 
braced the helmet of his enemy, and finding him lifeless, 
smote off his head, which he bore away in triumph to the 
Christian host. The body of Turbishaw was delivered to 
his friends. The spoils of war necessarily became the 
property of the victor. 



CHAPTER VI. 

We may imagine the exultation in the camp of the Chris- 
tians, and the good auguries of future triumph which were 
conveyed by so gallant a beginning. The hero was met 
by the army with a shout of general welcome. In just the 
same degree was the mortification of the good people of 
Regall. Sorely did they lament the fall of their cham- 
pion, and sadly, we may suppose, did the " faire dames" 
of the city sigh as they thought upon the delightful pastime 
which was made for them by the Christian,Smith. But the 
chief mourner in Regall was one Grualgo, the bosom friend 
of Turbishaw, and a fierce and powerful warrior. In the 
first paroxysm of his grief and fury he despatched a special 
message to the conqueror, proposing his own head as 
the stake for the recovery of his friend's. To make the 
bait the more tempting to our champion, his horse and 
armor were also proposed as pledges upon the issue. It 
need scarcely be said that, flushed with one victory, and 
having full confidence in his own prowess, Smith was ready 
to seek the chances for another. The challenge was prompt- 
ly accepted. Nothing, indeed, could have been more 
agreeable to our hero. It is true, he had given the head 
of Turbishaw to Prince Moyses, who had " kindly accept- 
ed it," but it cannot be doubted that the prince would 
gladly risk his prize with the expectation of getting that 
of Grualao also for his collection. There were no diffi- 
culties in the way of the arrangement, the field was pre- 
pared as before, and the ensuing day was appointed for the 
combat. 

The walls of Regall were again covered with spectators. 
5* 



54 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

The fair and the brave once more came forth with mingled 
feeh'ngs of dehght, expectation and anxiety — pride, and 
hope, and apprehension, duly mingling in their bosoms, 
according to the temper of the individual. Grualgo entered 
as his friend had done, with a noise of hautboys ; Smith, 
as before, with a flourish of trumpets. The sound of the 
trumpet gave the signal for the combat. At the first pas- 
sage the lances of the combatants flew into pieces ; but, 
while the Turk was nearly unhorsed in the encounter, 
Smith kept his seat as if he had grown to the saddle. 
The splintered spears were thrown aside, and seizing their 
pistols, shots were instantly exchanged between the par- 
ties. At the first shot Smith was slightly wounded, and 
Grualgo escaped unhurt. In the second, the latter was 
less fortunate. His left arm was shattered, and his horse 
became unmanageable. In this plight he was thrown to the 
ground, and lay At the mercy of the conqueror. The age 
was not favorable to niuch forbearance in such cases, nor 
had the terms of courtesy between the contending armies 
been of such a sort as to render the want of pity a reproach 
to either from the other. Besides, the Turk had staked his 
head with a full knowledge of all the dangers, and having 
the fate of Turbishaw before him. Smith had voluntarily 
subjected himself to the same risk, and this he scarcely 
would have done, but with a view to his obtaining all the 
profits of his risk. The conditions of the field seem to 
have been inevitable, and leaping to the ground, the con- 
queror smote off* the head of Grualgo as effectually as 
he had done that of Turbishaw. Head, horse and armor 
remained his trophies. The body, he is careful to tell 
us, with all its rich apparel, was sent back to the city. 
Our champion took nothing more than he had a perfect 
right to take. 

These were severe strokes to the defenders of Regall. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 65 

We have every reason to suppose that Turbishaw andGru- 
algo were their very bravest champions. No more chal- 
lenges were sent from that city. The desire among the 
Turkish warriors of delighting the ladies of the place with 
such courtlike pastimes seemed fairly at an end, and the 
chivalry of both parties was now exercised in daily conflicts 
of a more general nature. The Turks made frequent sal- 
lies, but did not long wait for the skirmishes they pro- 
voked. " They would not endure," says Smith, " to any 
purpose." They had, by this time, tested sufficiently the 
superior prowess of their assailants, and their sorties had 
no other object than to divert or retard the operations of 
the leaguer, of which they may reafsonably have begun 
to be more apprehensive than at the beginning of the cam- 
paign. These operations were of a character too slow and 
tedious for the temper of Smith. The approaches were 
left to unskilful engineers, and the progress to the con- 
summation of the event was too unpromising to satisfy the 
impatient and ambitious nature of our champion. Burning 
for some new occasion for displaying his skill and spirit, 
he determined to take the initiative in a new attempt to 
delight and amuse the ladies. " With many incontradicti- 
ble persuading reasons" *' to delude time," Smith obtained 
leave from his commander to send a message of defiance 
into the town. It was couched, however, in language of 
particular courtesy, as being addressed to the ladies of 
Regall themselves. He begged to assure them that he 
was not so much enamored of the heads of their servants 
in his possession, but that he was ready to restore them 
upon proper terms, and he invited them to send forth some 
other champion who would risk his own to recover them. 
Smith concluded by declaring himself willing that his head 
should accompany the others, if their champion was pre- 
pared to take it. 



56 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

Thus addressed, it became a point of honor with the 
gallants of Regall that the ladies should not lack a cham- 
pion. The challenge of the Christian was accepted with 
sufficient promptness by a brave fellow, whose n-,ime in 
our English orthography does not create the impression of 
any very formidable personage. How it would look and 
sound in Turkish costume is beyond our conjecture. 
Bonny Mulgro — thus written by Smith — was the name of 
the thii'd champion sent forth from Regall. He came only 
to add a third to the trophies of our hero. The arrange- 
ments were made for the ensuing day. 

The combatants entered the field as in the previous 
instances, and under like auspices — the day fine, and the 
camp of the Christians, and the entire population of Re- 
gall, turning out to behold the issue. But there was one 
difference in the arrangements which had like to have 
brought about an important difference in the result. The 
choice of weapons being with the challenged party, taking 
counsel from the fate of his predecessors, he declined hav- 
ing anything to do with the lance, of which weapon Smith 
had shown himself a perfect master. (How much of this 
mastery did he owe to his practice when playing hermit 
in the woods of Lincoln ?) Bonny Mulgro chose the 
pistol, the battle-axe, and falchion ; in the use of which 
weapons, particularly in that of the battle-axe, he was 
more than commonly a proficient. The combat honored 
his discretion, and had nearly resulted in his victory. At 
the sound of the trumpet the combatants rapidly darted 
upon each other, discharging their pistols as they drew 
nigh. No damage having been done by these weapons, 
they were thrown aside, and a close and severe combat 
followed with the battle-axe. For some time the strife 
was doubtful. Sound strokes were given on both sides, 
with such hearty good will, and such imperfect defence, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 57 

as to leave neither of them scarce sense enough — so Smith 
tells us — to keep their saddles. At length, however, the 
Turk succeeded in giving his antagonist a blow so severe 
as to deprive him of his battle-axe. At the sight of this 
advantage gained by their champion, the people of Regall 
set up such a shout as shook their ramparts. This, while 
it encouraged Bonny Mulgro to do his utmost, may be 
supposed to have stung his opponent into a full recovery 
of his senses — never more necessary to him than just at 
that moment. He did recover them. It was very fortu- 
nate for him that he was so efficient a horseman. It was 
only by the dexterous management of his steed that he 
succeeded for some time in avoiding the blows hailed upon 
him by his enemy. Smith is not unwilling to share some 
of the merit with his horse, whose " readinesse" he eulo- 
gizes, while insisting upon his own "judgment and dex- 
terity in such a businesse." It was beyond the expecta- 
tion of all the spectators — almost beyond the hope of his 
Christian friends — that our hero, finally, " by God's assist- 
ance," not only escaped the hatchet of the Turk, but 
drawing his falchion, succeeded in running him through 
the body. This event dismounted him ; and though he 
alighted on his feet, he was not suffered to keep them long. 
He soon shared the fate of his companions ; and Smith, 
still in possession of his own head, added a third to his 
former bloody trophies. 



CHAPTER Vn. 

These several victories, the fruit of so much skill, judg- 
ment and valor on the part of our champion, had the most 
inspiriting effect upon the soldiery, and were duly honored 
by the commander of the Christians. A most imposing 
pageant took place in his honor. With an escort of six 
thousand men, the three Turks' heads borne before him 
on so many spears, preceding the three horses with their 
panoply, the spoils of the three combats, Smith was con- 
ducted to the pavillion and into the presence of the general. 
Prince Moyses welcomed him with embraces, compliment- 
ed him as his deeds deserved, bestowed upon him a noble 
charger richly furnished, a splendid scimetar and belt 
worth three hundred ducats. Count Meldritch added to 
these gifts another, which our hero in all probability valued 
quite as highly as any of the rest. He made him a major 
in his regiment. Nor were these the only rewards which 
followed his unwonted and successful chivalry. At a later 
period Sigismund Bathor, Prince of Transylvania, coming 
to review the army, and being made aware of his peculiar 
achievements, distinguished him with the highest personal 
attentions, gave him his picture set in gold, a pension of 
three hundred ducats per annum, and crowned all with a 
patent of nobility. This patent entitled him to a coat of 
arms, bearing three Turks' heads in a shield, with the 
motto, " Vincere est Vivere* 



* For this patent and the certificate of the English garter kin g-at- 
arms, Sir William. Segar, by whom it was atlmiitcd and put on 
record in the Heralds' College, England— see Appendix. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH* 59 

But Smith was destined to undergo other perils and 
vicissitudes, and to make other exhibitions of courage, 
skill and endurance, before these last mentioned honors 
were conferred upon him. Regall was yet to be taken, 
and however keenly its defenders might feel the mor- 
tification and loss of three of their favorite champions, 
their determination to defend the place to the last moment 
was not a whit lessened by their fate. The works of the 
besiegers being at length completed for the grand assault, 
they opened upon the walls of the city with six and twenty 
pieces of artillery. In the space of fifteen days two 
breaches were made. These were defended by the Turks 
with all the earnestness of desperate men in maintenance 
of their last favorite places of retreat. A general assault 
at length was commanded, and after a furious conflict, 
hand to hand, in which the assailants suffered severely, 
the town was entered by them sword in hand. The sur- 
viving defenders fled to the castle or citadel, as the only 
place of refuge. But this was not to be a place of refuge 
long. In vain did the little garrison send out a flag of 
truce, entreating composition with the besiegers. The 
prayer was rejected with scorn and indignation. The 
Christians had old massacres to avenge, and the castle,sub- 
jected to a like battery with that which had overthrown 
their ramparts, was taken the next day by storm. Then 
followed one of those terrible instances of havoc and bru- 
tality which, in all similar circumstances, in that and pre- 
ceding periods, has marked the victory obtained over 
walled places in the phrenzied and exciting heat of actual 
conflict. Dreadful was the massacre which ensued. All 
who could bear arms were put indiscriminately to the 
sword, their heads cut off and set around the walls upon 
stakes, such as had been done to the Christian defenders 
when the place had fallen into the hands of the present 



60 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

victims. Humanity asks without being answered, " Wliat 
of the fair women, the beautiful and young, whose pre- 
sence on the walls, at a more exhilarating moment, had 
stimulated the valor of knighthood, and whose smiles had 
lighted up the field of chivalry ?" The ferocious temper 
which spared not the submissive warrior, was not likely, 
in the desperate mood which the sacking of a city de- 
mands, to forbear excess and violence to the pleading and 
the loveliness of his women, particularly when the very 
faith with which they professed, placing them among the 
heathen, seemed of itself, in the estimation of that day of 
bigotry and superstition, to put them out of the pale of hu- 
manity. Though our adventurer spares us the melancholy 
details of this ferocious history, it is to his credit that his 
language, when he refers to the subject, is that of regret 
and sympathy. We have no reason to suppose that he 
ever had occasion to feel remorse for his share in these 
proceedings, or to reproach himself with deeds which were 
not performed in the heat of actual conflict, and under all 
the necessity of self-defence. 

The ramparts of Regall being repaired, and his own 
besieging works overthrown. Prince Moyses manned the 
place with a strong garrison, and proceeded to other con- 
quests. We need not say that Smith accompanied him. 
Like successes attended the Christians at Veratio, Solmos 
and Kupronka. These places also fell by storm, were 
sacked — the garrison sharing a like fate with the arms- 
bearing inhabitants of Regall, and the decrepid, the women 
and children, two thousand in number, being carried into 
captivity. We are to conjecture for ourselves the sort 
of experience, busy and bloody, of strife and slaughter, 
through which our hero passed in this melancholy progress 
of sacks and sieges. But the heart of the soldier is not 
necessarily a callous one ; and the fervor of actual combat 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 61 

subsiding, the more genial humanities are apt to recover 
all their sway in the bosom which rather obeys the prompt- 
ing of an impetuous nature, than the cold and cruel dic- 
tates of diseased and vexing passions. Smith's narrative 
is never allowed to shock our sensibilities. He speaks of 
the conflict in the spirit of the warrior ; but,the strife at 
rest, he seems to shrink from such details as degrade him 
from his humanity. It may be urged that he was not igno- 
rant of the final issues of war, and the atrocious practices 
which usually accompanied it at that period, and in the 
wild countries in which he waged it ; but this will be 
insisting upon standards of morality which did not belong 
to his time, and would not properly apply in the case of 
one so neglected in his youth and training as himself. 
Besides, he was too much the creature of action, too fond 
of adventure in fields which tax all the energies of the 
soul and spirit, to be easily diverted from employments 
which gave exercise to these, because of the occasional 
repulsiveness of their conditions. Our object, however, is 
not to excuse but to represent him justly. A wild time 
and wild countries demand a prompt and unscrupulous 
courage. Though Smith laments the horrors of warfare, 
and speaks always with the gentleness and meekness of 
that better spirit which sometimes softened the aspects of 
the feudal ages, he is not to be driven from the profession 
of arms, because of its occasional massacres. We find 
him still commanding under Meldritch, though by this 
time certain political changes in the affairs of Transylvania 
left him no longer under the same superior. Hitherto, 
the Prince Sigismund, from whom he had received his 
honors, had maintained a sufficiently bold front at once 
against the Turks and the emperor, whose authority he 
had defied, asserting for himself all the rights of an inde- 
pendent sovereign. But the struggle was too unequal. 
6 



62 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

The resources of his principality were exhausted in the con- 
flict ; and, with the spectacle before his eyes of ravaged 
fields and wasted territories, the proud spirit of the Prince 
was humbled within him. Smith gives in a few words a 
painful description of the condition of the country after the 
close of this twofold struo-o-le. From beins " one of the 
fruitfuUest and strongest countries in those parts," it was 
become " rather a desert, or the very spectacle of desola- 
tion ; their fruits and fields overgrowne with weeds, their 
churches, and battered palaces, and best buildings, as for 
feare, hid with mosses and ivy : being the very bulwarke 
and rampire of a greate part of Europe, most fit by all 
Christians to have been supplyed and maintained, was 
thus brought to ruine by them it most concerned to sup- 
port it." But what was the true interest of the country 
or of Europe to the prerogative of the Emperor ? The 
latter was unyielding, and Sigismund, with a humane 
regard to the distresses of his people, craved a truce from 
his invader. This truce led to the desired concessions, 
which were followed by a partial disbanding of the army 
under Prince Moyses. Sigismund accepted a munificent 
perksion, and yielding up his perilous sovereignty, retired 
upon the rank and estate of a private nobleman. But 
this was an arrangement by no means satisfactory to all 
the parties. Young hawks must be fed ] and soldiers by 
trade are not the less willing to fight because they are 
disbanded. Prince Moyses, the lieutenant of Sigismund, 
declared his resolution never to submit to the Germans ; 
and disobeying the commands of Sigismund — perhaps 
compelled by his troops to disregard them — he marched 
against the forces of the Emperor, commanded by one 
Busca, an Albanian. A few small .successes which he 
obtained were followed by a bloody conflict, in which he 
was finally defeated, and fled for refuge to the Turks at 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 63 

Temesvare. His overthrow removed all obstacles to the 
progjress of the Emperor ; and it was not difficult to enlist 
the same soldiers of fortune who had fought for the one 
in the armies of the opposing Prince. It does not appear 
that Smith had made cause with Moyses in his insurrec- 
tionary an^ frantic movement against Busca. On the 
contrary, he seems to have adhered to the fortunes of his 
more immediate leader, the Earl of Meldritch, and soon 
found employment with him, as before, in defending the 
country from the infidel. There was no lack of employ- 
ment in those days, and in that region, for the warlike man- 
at-arms. The Turk was no such imbecile as we find him 
now, to be trodden upon and buffeted with impunity by all 
his neighbors. There were few of the contiguous nations, 
indeed, which at that time he did not cause to tremble ; 
and his restless ambition rendered necessary the mainten- 
ance of veteran armies everywhere along the frontiers of 
his empire. Wallachia was then a Turkish province, the 
people of which revolting against the tyranny of their vai- 
vode or governor, one Jeremias, expelled him from their ter- 
ritory, and called in the assistance of the emperor's forces. 
These were not slow in coming at the call, and at their 
presence and with their assistance, a new vaivode was pro- 
claimed in the person of Lord Rodoll. But Jeremias, the 
governor who had been expelled, having succeeded in 
assembling a numerous army of forty thousand men, pre- 
pared to contest the authority which had succeeded to his 
own, and to subdue and scourge the revolt among his sub- 
jects. Rodoll, unable to contend with such an army, fled 
at its approach, and took shelter among the Transylvanians. 
It became necessary to assert the rights of the new vai- 
vode by force of arms, and Busca, anxious to furnish em- 
ployment to the old regiments of Sigismund, of whose fide- 
lity he seems to have had some doubts, found no difficulty 



64 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMI I'H. 

in yielding them for this purpose, to the application of the 
fugitive. It was thus that Smith, still under the command 
of his old leader, the Earl of Meldritch, again tool^ the 
field against his ancient enemy, the Turk. Meldritch led 
to the support of Rodoll a powerful army of thirty thou- 
sand men. This body of troops, well traine^ well offi- 
cered and admirably experienced, was perhaps the most 
veteran force in Transylvania. This army, penetrating 
Wallachia, advanced upon the camp of Jeremias, who lay 
strongly entrenched in the plains of Peteski, awaiting rein- 
forcements from the Crim Tartars. Here the Christians 
encamped also, watching their enemy, but not daring to 
a-ssail him in the strong position which he held. Frequent 
conflicts took place between small parties of the opposing 
forces, which were chiefly remarkable for the shocking 
cruelties which they practised. While Rodoll beheaded 
his prisoners, and flung their gory heads by night into the 
Turkish trenches, the latter, not to be outdone in brutality, 
flayed his victims alive, and staked the still warm car- 
cases on huge poles in sight of their infuriated comrades. 
To seduce Jeremias from his entrenchments, Rodoll fell 
upon a plan of retreat, which was intended to have all the 
appearance of a flight. His scheme was well devised, and at 
a given period, firing the country as he withdrew from his 
camp, he retired in the night upon the Brinki in seeming 
precipitation. The ruse had the desired effect. The 
Turks, against the will of their commander, forced him 
to lead them in pursuit, and while the rear -guard of Rodoll 
was skirmishing with the advance parties of his enemy, 
the main body of his army was putting itself in the most 
favorable position for the reception of the pursuing foe. 
Smith gives us a lively account of the battle which ensued. 
His is one of those frank and generous natures which 
shows no reluctance in declaring the merits as well of 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMIl'H. 65 

friend and enemy. Meldritch and Busendorfe he describes 
" rather like enraged lions than like men," and fighting the 
assailants "as if in them only had consisted the victory." 
Meldritch's horse is slain under him, and the desire of the 
Turks to make him prisoner, and of his own followers to 
save him from this peril, makes the battle hottest where 
he stands. He is remounted, and " it is thought with 
his owne hands he slew the valiant Zanzacke, whereupon 
his troopes retyring, the two proud bashawes, Aladdin and 
Zezimmus, brought up the front of the body of their bat- 
tel." The fight becomes desperate and bloody. The 
bravery and skill of Jeremias, which are highly commend- 
ed by our hero, leave it for some time doubtful, even with 
the object of his stratagem obtained, if RodoU will remain 
the victor. The conflict is one of individual combats, and 
becomes a massacre rather than a fight. " There was 
scarce ground to stand upon," says Smith, " but upon the 
dead carkasses which, in less than an bower, were so 
mingled as if each regiment had singled out the other." It 
is really pleasing to hear him speak of the Turkish cham- 
pions. " The admired Aladdin," says he, " that day did 
leave behinde him a glorious name for his valour, whose 
death many of his enemies did lament after the victorie." 
" Zezimmus, the bashaw, was taken prisoner, but died 
presently of his wounds." "Jeremie * * * 1[\^q a 
valiant prince in the front of the vantgard, by his example 
so bravely encouraged his soldiers that RodoU found no 
great assurance of the victorie." But the victory finally 
fell to the Christians. Their veteran experience deter- 
mined the odds in their favor. The havoc had been 
immense. The Turks lost their bravest officers, and not 
less than twenty-five thousand dead of both armies were, 
left upon the field, a bloody proof of the resolute hatred 
of the opposing legions. Of his own share in this battle, 
6* 



66 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

Smith modestly tells us nothing. His eulogies upon the 
valorous deeds of others, friend and foe, leave him no 
room to relate his own. But a struggle so hotly and so 
closely contested, with regiment grappling regiment over 
the bodies of slain comrades, is not likely to have been 
spared the exhibitions of that spirit, skill, strength and 
courage, which had so often individualized his previous 
career. We have no doubt that our adventurer did not 
suffer himself to be outdone, and his own glory obscured, 
by any Turk or Christian in the two arrays. He did not 
repose upon the laurels of Regall, but in all probability 
dyed his sanguinary chaplet trebly red in the havoc of that 
mortal struggle. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Jeremie, the leader of the Turks, after performing prodi- 
gies of valor, escaped from the field with some fourteen 
thousand men, making his way to Moldavia. Lord Rodoll 
resumed his rule as vaivode in Wallachia ; but his fate 
seemed resolute that he should not hold it long without 
disturbance. The Turks and Tartars again drew to a head 
in numbers, and, under the conduct of Jeremie, who had 
succeeded in uniting the remnant of his forces with other 
troops in Moldavia, again appeared upon the field. The 
numbers of his army had been greatly underrated ; and 
Meldritch, laboring under this error, was sent against him 
with but thirteen thousand men. With an enemy before 
him numbering nearly forty-five thousand men, Meldritch 
slowly yielded to a pressure which it would have been 
madness to resist. He retired towards Rottenton, a 
strongly garrisoned town of the vaivode, but was terribly 
harassed by his enemy on the retreat. The skirmishing 
parties of the two armies were in constant collision, and 
not without advantage to the Christian army ; which, 
however, still continued its retrograde movement, made 
momently more and more conscious, by the accumulating 
presence of the foe, of the tremendous disparity between 
the two forces. A night march which Meldritch's troops 
made, with incredible expedition, through a wood, brought 
them unexpectedly upon two thousand of the Turks laden 
with plunder. Favored by a thick morning fog, which 
concealed their approach from the foe, they immediately 
charged with complete success, slaying many, and taking 
numerous prisoners. But this success was accompanied 



68 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

by the knowledge, gained from their captives, that their 
rapidity of march had availed them nothing. They were 
ajjprised that Jeremie with his Turks had got in advance 
of them, and now lay in waiting, guarding the only pass 
through which they could escape. To support him in 
his position, the Tartars, twice his number, were approach- 
ing at a little distance, conscious of their vast superiority 
of force, and eager for their prey. The prospect only 
increased the desperate valor of the Christians. It became 
necessary to force the passage, if possible, before the 
junction of the Tartars with the Turkish army under Jere- 
mie ; and here, , again, the ingenuity of the " English 
Smith," as he styles himself, was put in requisition for 
the relief of the beleaguered army. Smith, remembering 
the excellent success which had followed his experi- 
ments of " fiery dragons" and " false musketeers" on pre- 
vious occasions, conceived the idea of a " pretty stratagem 
of fireworks," of which he instantly advised his superior. 
By means of these he proposed to diminish materially the 
danger and difficulties of fighting his way through such a 
host as that of Jeremie, in the advantageous position 
which the latter occupied. Meldritch, who had already 
seen the excellent skill which our hero possessed in gun- 
powder, gave ready ear to his suggestions. The plan of 
Smith was quite simple. Rockets, of a highly explosive 
and eccentric character, were immediately prepared, and 
fastened to the ends of their lances ; and under cover of 
the night the passage was attempted. The expedient had 
all the success which was expected from it. The rockets, 
two or three hundred in number — " truncks of wild-fire" 
— at the end of the charging spears, " blazed forth such 
flames and sparkles, that it so amazed not only their 
horses but their foot also, that, by the meanes of this 
flaming encounter, their owne horses turned tailes with 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 69 

such fury, as by their violence overthrew Jeremias and 
his army, without any losse at all to speak of to Meldritch." 
The Turks were in fact beaten and driven from the field 
by this simple stratagem, and the dangerous passage was 
passed, with hopes of safety renewed among the Chris- 
tians, having so unexpectedly surmounted the obstacle 
which had been so much feared. Truly, the English 
Smith was a valuable companion in a moment of emer- 
gency ; and it is to be recognized as a sufficient proof of 
the estimation in which he was held, that he finds his 
way at pleasure to the private ear of his superior, and his 
counsel is usually adopted with ready confidence. 

But the success of the " pretty stratagem of fireworks" 
was only te^mporary. They had discomfited Jeremie, 
but the Tartar with his forty thousand men lay still in 
the path. The army of Meldritch was now reduced to 
eleven thousand only. Pressing forward with this rem- 
nant with more speed than prudence, they encountered 
the enemy in force within three leagues of Rottenton, the 
fortified city which they aimed to reach. The position in 
which the two armies encountered was such as to render 
it impossible to escape the conflict. The alternative for 
fight was to " be cut to pieces flying." 

" Here," says Smith, bitterly, reviewing the danger, 
" here Busca and the emperor had their desire." His 
allusion is to the obvious anxiety of the Germans to be 
rid of auxiliaries, whose very fidelity made them suspect- 
ed by his enemy and successor, and whose veteran valor 
he had excellent reason to fear. It is in this place that 
our adventurer exhibits the glow and ardor of that spirit 
which was at the bottom of his chivalry. It is here, in 
his book, that his tones rise, and his voice dilates in the 
swelling language of the Spaniard. And there is a rude 
vein of poetry apparent in his narrative at this and other 



70 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

like places, which reminds us of the verses of genuine bards. 
Thus when he says, " The sunne no sooner displayed his 
beames than the Tartar his colours," we feel that he is 
quite as natural, and even more happy in his figure, than 
Dan Chaucer in the famous line — 

" Uprose the sunne, and uprose Emilie ;" 

since the pomp and splendor of the image which furnished 
the comparison is much more appropriate to the gorgeous 
aspects of battle than to the making of a damsel's toilet. 

The terrors and dangers of the approaching conflict do 
not render our hero indifferent to the beauty and magnifi- 
cence of the spectacle. " It was a most brave sight," he 
exclaims, " to see the banners and ensigns streaming in 
the aire, the glittering of armour, the variety of colours, 
the motion of plumes, the forests of lances, and the thick- 
nesse of shorter weapons, till the silent expedition of the 
bloody blast from the murdering ordnance, whose roaring 
voice is not so soone heard as felt by the aymed-at object, 
which made among them a most lamentable slaughter." 

Delivered up to almost certain destruction by what 
Smith styles — having reference, we suppose, to the empe- 
ror in withholding succor — " a tyrannical and treacherous 
imposture," " a cowardly calamity," the Christian army 
prepared for the terrible encounter with the coolness and 
resolve of veterans. It was " in the valley of Veristhorne, 
betwixt the river of Altus and the mountain of Rottenton," 
that " this bloody encounter" took place, " where the most 
of the dearest friends of the noble Prince Sigismundus 
perished." The affectionate manner in which Smith 
speaks of this Prince, and of the followers whose fidelity 
he had experienced, is very pleasing and honorable. His 
sense of the beauty of fidelity is another of those traits of 
chivalry, which are conspicuous equally in the events oi 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 71 

his life, and in the narrative which records them. He 
dwells with more than ordinary minuteness upon this last 
fatal battle. 

Meldritch, always a good captain, made the best possi- 
ble disposition of his forces. His eleven thousand men 
were drawn up at the foot of the mountain, and in their 
front and on their flanks sharp stakes, hardened in the fire 
and bent against the enemy, were planted in the earth. 
By digging numerous holes at frequent intervals along the 
line, it was aimed still farther to lessen the vast superiority 
which the Tartars possessed in cavalry. The infantry 
was ranged among the stakes, having orders to retire be- 
hind them when they found themselves too severely 
pressed. All the precautions which were practicable in 
the condition of their affairs seem to have been taken with 
deliberate coolness and resolve — the preparations made 
being of a character to show, that it was the conviction of 
the Christian commander that the struggle was a final one 
for life rather than victory — though, in such an issue, the 
former seems necessarily to imply the other. 

It was noon before the armies joined battle : " the 
sunne" that had risen so gloriously, according to Smith, 
*' for shame did hide himselfe from so monstrous sight of a 
cowardly calamity." But the calamity, however great, 
could not suffer from the reproach of cowardice, unless it 
be charged upon the Tartar forces in regard to their over- 
whelming numerical superiority. These, forty thousand 
in number, were also arrayed for the struggle with skill 
and judgment. The battle was begun by Mustapha Bey, 
who came on, gallantly enough, in the midst of a storm of 
music from drums, trumpets and hautboys. He was 
bravely met, and beaten back by the regiments of horse 
under Nederspolt and Mavazo. His attack was followed 
up by the bold and headlong onslaught of a Tartar chief 



72 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

named Begolgi, whose advancing squadrons darkened the 
skies with their multitudinous arrows. The lieutenants, 
Veltus and Ober win, struggled under this terrible pressure 
for more than an hour, yielded finally, and sank agreeably 
to order behind the stakes which had been planted for 
their safety against this very emergency. Then followed, 
heedless of this obstruction, of which hitherto they had 
seen nothing, the blind rush of the Tartar cavalry. " It 
was a wonder," says Smith, '' to see how horse and man 
came to the ground." 

The disorder was so great among these " mangled 
troopes,"in consequence of this unlooked for disaster, that 
the Christians, enlivened by new hopes, began to shout 
for victory ; and, with five or six field-pieces which now 
played with effect upon the discomfited horsemen, succeed- 
ed for a brief space in arresting the assailants. But the 
hope was illusory. The respite was for an instant only. 
The Turks soon recovered from their disorder and sur- 
prise, and renewed the combat with new legions and a 
fresher fury. Their reckless onslaught, and swarming 
multitudes, soon satisfied Meldritch that nothing short of 
a miracle could save his army, that any hope of victory 
was idle, and that all that now remained for him to attempt, 
was to cut his way through the enemy with a select body 
of his men. With this resolution he drew together his 
choice troops and his reserve, and gave orders for the 
desperate charge. The attempt was only in part success- 
ful. The passage was made by Meldritch himself and 
some fourteen hundred horse, who succeeded by swim- 
ming in throwing the river Altus between themselves and 
their pursuers. But heavy was the toll which he had to 
pay in making that passage. Numbers fell in the flight, 
and among these many of his bravest officers. Of the 
sanguinary terrors of that conflict some idea may be 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 73 

gathered from the fact, that of both armies thirty thousand 
men were left upon the field. Nor did the commons suffer 
only. Earls and barons, colonels and captains — the brave 
generals Nederspolt, Veltus, Zarvana, Mavazo, and Ba- 
vell — were among the slain ; and Smith, with praise- 
worthy patriotism, does not omit to make a record which 
he deems honorable to his native land. '' Give me leave," 
says he, " to remember the names of our owne countrymen 
* * in these exploits, that, as resolutely as the best, in 
the defence of Christ and his Gospell ended their dayes ; 
as Baskerfield^ Hardwicke^ Thomas Mllemer, Robert Molli- 
neiix, Thomas Bishop, Francis Compton, George Davison^ 
Nicholas Williams, and one John, a Scot, did what men 
could doe ; and when they could doe no more left there 
their bodies, in testimonie of their mindes. Only Ensigne 
Carleton and Sergeant Robinson escaped." 

Smith himself was left severely wounded, and seemingly 
dead, among a heap of the slain. His rich armor drew 
the attention of the conquerors, while his groans, uttered 
in his unconsciousness, showed him to be still alive. His 
life was spared in consideration of his ransom. Carefully 
nursed and tended, his wounds were healed, his strength 
gradually recovered, and when fit for inspection, he was 
offered for sale in the slave-markets of Axiopolis. He 
was bought by the Bashaw Bogall, and sent by him in 
chains to his " faire mistresse" at Constantinople. ^' By 
twentie and twentie, chained by the neckes, they marched 
in files to this great citie, where they were delivered to 
their several masters, and he (Smith) to the young Cha- 
ratza Tragabigzanda.''^ 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Bashaw Bogall, though no hero, was yet ambitious 
of the fame of one ; and, in sending Smith to his mistress, 
he committed the blunder — to say nothing of the worse 
offence against morals — of telling her that the captain was 
a Bohemian nobleman, who had yielded to the vigor of 
his own right arm in battle. The personal appearance of 
Smith was in his favor ; and his address soon awakened 
in the fair Charatza a degree of interest which was not 
allowed to escape his notice. To what extent he availed 
himself of this discovery, his own modesty forbids us to 
know. That he won her affections is unquestionable. 
The story of the wooing, as told in his own narrative, 
reminds us strongly of that of Othello. The narrative 
which she had received from Bogall prompted her dis- 
course. She sought him from time to time, and demanded 
of him the particulars of his overthrow by her lover. 
When she heard the falsehood of the tale with which the 
latter had imposed upon her, her indignation against the 
impostor prepared the way for another sort of feeling for 
himself. She could speak the Italian language, and as 
he had travelled in Italy, there was no impediment to 
their free communication with one another. When he 
told her that he had never seen Bogall till he had been 
sold to him in the slave-market of Axiopolis — that he was 
no Bohemian, but an Englishman, who had succeeded by 
his prowess to a command in Wallachia — her curiosity 
and interest increased in the captive. But she did not 
yield herself implicitly and without proper precaution to 
his narrative. She tried his veracity by inquiries propos- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SiMITH. 75 

ed to other persons — slaves also, we suppose, who could 
speak the English, French, and Dutch languages — by all 
of whom the honesty of Smith's assurances was confirm- 
ed, and her sympathy with him — Smith calls it " com- 
passion," — was necessarily strengthened and increased. 
As she arrived cautiously at her " compassion," so she 
observed a like degree of caution in giving it utterance. 
She was not herself sufficiently free to do boldly what she 
desired ; but when she sought the society of her slave she 
feigned sickness, which enabled her to discard other com- 
pany for that of the preferred one. She had lonely mo- 
ments, sad ones, when it pleased her mood to retire to 
" weepe over the graves ;" and we are permitted to fancy, 
that on such occasions Smith was always nigh to give her 
lessons in English, or to confirm her practice in Italian. 
The burial-places among the Moslems are rare and beau- 
tiful retreats — frequently garden-spots, filled with singing- 
birds — and the stately and solemn moods of the people 
render them highly eligible as places of resort to the con- 
templative and gentle spirit. Their superstition somewhat 
increases the security of' such places, and the loving as 
well as the sorrowing heart may thus equally find them 
useful. It is quite natural that an author should become 
abrupt at this stage of his narrative. It belongs to him, 
as a preux chevalier^ to relate only what is unavoidably 
necessary to his biography. But he had won her heart, 
and the discovery, unfortunately, was made by others 
quite as soon perhaps as by the parties. Charatza is sud- 
denly alarmed lest her mother should sell her favorite. 
She is not her own mistress, and dares not openly oppose 
this design. She finds but one way to avert it, and that 
is by sending him to her brother Timour Bashaw, of Nal- 
britz, in Gambia, one of the provinces of Tartary. This 
proceeding satisfies the mother, since her only object was 



76 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

to separate the maiden from the captive in whom she had 
such a tender interest. But never could choice be more 
unfortunate. The letter which Charatza wrote to her 
brother unhappily betrayed to him her secret. She relied 
too much upon his regard for herself, and did not hesitate 
to demand from him the best of usage for the prisoner. 
His sojourn in Tartary was to be temporary only, for the 
purpose of acquiring the habits and the language of the 
Turks, and until time should make her mistress of her own 
person. This last suggestion, which so completely be- 
trayed the nature of the interest which she felt in the cap- 
tive, awakened all the national bigotry in the bosom of the 
brother. It provoked a treatment equally prompt and 
cruel, which the poor Charatza little fancied would befall 
her favorite. The haughty Bashaw was not prepared to 
countenance such a connection between his sister and her 
slave. To degrade the object of her interest was his first 
movement ; and within an hour after his arrival, our 
adventurer was stripped naked, his head and beard shaven 
" so bare as his hand," his body clad in undrest skins and 
haircloth, and a heavy ring of iron, '' with a long stalke 
bowed like a sickle riveted about his neck." The rest 
of his treatment was of the same description. He was 
tasked with the vilest labors, in a condition, as he himself 
expresses it, beyond the endurance of a dog ; — a slave, as 
the last comer, to the whole herd of slaves, hundreds in 
number, in bonds to this petty tyrant ; who, " for all 
their paines and labours, no more regarded them than a 
beast." 

Smith was an attentive observer, so far as his opportu- 
nities would allow, of the peculiarities, the manners, and 
condition of the country, no matter what were the circum- 
stances in which he found himself. Though his narrative 
is usually a meagre one, he yet suffers us to see that he 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 77 

notes all things with a shrewd and military eye. We 
have constant proofs of it in his pages, which are seldom 
heedful of very nice details. Thus, in his transit from 
Constantinople to Nalbritz, we have a bird's-eye view of 
places and objects on the route, though it is not always 
easy to identify the points which fix his attention, under 
the names or the orthography which he employs in desig- 
nating them, with such as are familiar to us now. Nor is 
it important that we should. A prisoner, closely watched 
and guarded, is not likely to see much of curious interest 
in his progress, and ours is a biography, not a book of 
travels. 

He remarks always the face of the country ; how the 
towns lie ; what are the approaches by water ; how the 
forts are built, and their apparent strength or weakness ; 
straits, how defended ; channels, how obstructed, or how 
accessible ; and sometimes gives us a bit of military his- 
tory, as applicable to the particular place which attracts 
his attention. All this he does unobtrusively, and without 
the slightest pretension. 

As a bondsman among the Tartars, he Avas compelled to 
notice other things, as well as to perform other duties, 
which hitherto had received but little of his attention. 
Several chapters of his memoirs are given to the diet of 
the Turks ; to their slaves ; the attire of the Tartars ; 
their religion ; modes of warfare ; modes of living ; feasts ; 
estates ; buildings ; tributes ; laws ; justice ; slaves ; en- 
tertainment of embassies ; armies and levies ; arms ; pro- 
visions for armies ; division of spoil, &c. Where his per- 
sonal observation fails in regard to these subjects, he 
pieces it out with materials drawn from books ; and in all 
probability, after coming out of captivity, he read all that 
he conveniently could in relation to the countries which 
he had traversed, or in which he had been held in bondage. 



78 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

His own observations are not favorable to the Mussul- 
mans. Their food disgusts him ; their drink ; their loath- 
some and filthy habits ; and, as a matter of course, their 
brutal treatment of the captive. But Smith saw things 
through the rings of his fetters, and his picture of the peo- 
ple and the country could scarce be other than unfavorable. 
He certainly takes away, by his description, much of the 
picturesque in the habits and history of the wandering 
Tartars. He pays willing tribute to their laws and jus- 
tice as administered among their own people ; and frankly 
credits their hardihood of life, their physical constitution, 
their agility and strength, their horsemanship, their prompt 
obedience, and their endurance of evil without complaint. 
The four chapters which he devotes to these subjects, 
while they prove his good sense, excellent judgment, and 
vigilant observation, are scarcely of any interest in the 
present advanced state of our knowledge in regard to the 
condition of the several countries to which they relate ; to 
say nothing of the material changes in habit and character 
which Turk and Tartar have undergone since the period 
when they were written. They suffice only to show how 
diligent was his mind, and how patient his watch, that 
could enable him to see and remember so much while in 
the irksome bonds, and busy in the degrading labors to 
which he found himself condemned. How long he re- 
mained in these bonds is uncertain. His own narrative is 
silent on the subject ; but from the period when he was 
made prisoner to that in which he returned to Transyl- 
vania, the interval is something short of one year. An 
obscure passage in one of his chapters leads to the infer- 
ence that he may have been something over six months a 
bondsman with Timour Bashaw. In this period he was 
without consolation. The sympathies of woman, the 
blandishments of love, no longer lightened his sorrows. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. /9 

He heard nothing from the fair Charatza, upon whose 
affection he built his only hope of delivery from thraldom. 
She was, in his own words, " surely ignorant of his bad 
usage ;" or if not ignorant, she was not permitted to con 
tinue or to resume an intrigue which so much revolted the 
pride of her watchful parent, and despotic brother. Bui 
though disappointed and wearied with the hope deferred, 
he did not despond. He did not rely upon the one hope 
only. He was not the man to wait events when he might 
shape and give them impulse, and he frequently discussed 
with his fellow-bondsmen the subject of their condition, 
and the probabilities in favor of any attempt which might 
be made for their escape. But these gave him no encour- 
agement. Neither " reason nor possibility" encouraged 
their attempts. He probably found among them no such 
spirit as his own ; the long period of their slavery having 
somewhat reconciled them to its severities. 

Smith had not reached this condition of resignation, and 
he was to find the door of his prison-house unfolded at a 
moment when he least expected it. ^' God," he exclaims, 
with that complacency which prompts every adventurous 
mind — every man of genius, in other words — to consider 
himself the child of a peculiar destiny : " God, beyond 
man's expectation or imagination, helpeth his servants 
when they least thinke of helpe, as it hapned to him." In 
common speech, an opportunity offered itself at once for 
escape and vengeance, and his manly courage did not suf- 
fer it to pass unemployed. His task? for some time pre- 
vious, had been to thrash corn at a country-house, more 
than a league distant from the dwelling of his Tartar lord. 
To this place the latter frequently came, and on all such 
occasions Smith was particularly the victim of his ill- 
usage. The affections of the sister had provoked the 
antipathies of the brother, and our adventurer was thus 



80 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH, 

made to endure abuses in due proportion to those delights 
which had soothed him in the first days of his captivity. 
It was by beating and buffeting her slave, that Timour did 
justice to the entreaties made in his behalf by the loved 
and loving Charatza Tragabigzanda. He was destined to 
repeat this wanton exercise once too frequently for the 
patience of his captive. On this occasion it so happened 
that the circumstances were all favorable to the latter. 
The two M'^ere alone together in a spot removed from the 
other prisoners, remote, indeed, from the observation of 
all ; and when the petty tyrant, in his humor, smote the 
slave over his task, the ordinary thrashing-flail which he 
worked with became the ready implement of his defence 
and vengeance. Stung to fury by the repeated indignities, 
and counselled by the auspicious circumstances of the 
occasion, the love of the sister was forgotten in the rage 
which the brutality of the brother had provoked, and dart- 
ing upon his tyrant unexpectedly, Smith beat out his 
brains in an instant. 

The deed was done as effectually as suddenly. But 
this was only the beginning of the game. There was no 
time to lose, and with the same readiness and resolution 
as he had shown in slaying his enemy, our hero dressed 
himself in his garments and threw his carcase out of sight 
beneath the straw. This done, he filled his knapsack 
with corn, closed the doors, and mounting the Tartar's 
horse, which stood in waiting, he pushed with all speed, 
at a venture, for the solitude of the desert. He knew 
nothing of the route before him ; could not even conjec- 
ture what course to pursue to avoid his enemies, and thus 
wandered wildly forward, not daring to seek information, 
but rather striving to avoid encounter with all along the 
road. For three days he wandered thus desperately, and 
in this miserable manner. But the child of destiny once 




p l^fK'i^ ^ 



SiHJth kiji.s Tiujoqr Ba.sljaw. page 80, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 81 

more finds himself the object of a special providence, The 
power which had favored him thus far seems to have 
guided his footsteps in a peculiar manner, since the first 
intimation of his whereabouts and route which he receiv- 
ed, was from the sign of the cross ! This was a huge 
guide post set up by the wayside, and shaped like the 
cross, to indicate the highway to Muscovy, a Christian 
country. Such a symbol, thus encountered, might well, 
in the case of a Christian, be regarded as an auspicious 
augury ; and Smith so esteemed it. The God whom he 
served, had directed his unconscious footsteps to the sym- 
bol of his Redeemer's sufferings ; and Smith was very far 
from being unmoved by the unlocked for circumstance. 
He has previously given himself up to despair, " even as 
taking leave of this miserable world ;" — when " to his 
dying spirits thus God added some comfort in this melan- 
choly journey, wherein, if he had met any of that vilde 
generation, they had made him their slave ; or knowing 
the figure engraven in the iron about his necke (as all 
slaves have), he had beene sent back again to his master." 
The sign of the cross, at the foot of which he suddenly 
finds himself, was the sign of his safety, and filled him 
with new confidence and courage. Now, this emblem 
was only one of many which, according to Smith's ae- 
count, are common to the country. It is by such symbols, 
adapted to the particular nation, that the Mussulmen 
indicate the people to whose territories their fingers 
point. Thus, while the cross denotes the route to 
Muscovy, the " half moone" shows that " to Crym- 
Tartary ; " a blacke man, full of white spots," guides 
to Persia and the Georgians ; and " a picture of the 
sunne to China." But the naturalness of this discovery 
did not lessen its religious influence upon him. In 
this sign, even more certainly than in the case of Con- 



82 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

stantine, lay the hope of our adventurer. He darted 
exultingly along the path which it pointed out, and, in 
dread and tribulation, but still in hope and without dis- 
aster, he pursued for sixteen days his solitary journey ; 
arriving at the end of this time at Ecopolis, a garrison of 
the Russians upon the river Don. 



CHAPTER X. 

It was the peculiar good fortune of our adventurer in all 
situations of great emergency and distress, to enlist the 
sympathies and secure the assistance of individuals of the 
gentler sex. We have seen the place which he seems to 
have taken, almost at the first glance, in the affections of 
the Turkish damsel, the fair Charatza Tragabigzanda ; and 
his arrival at Ecopolis conducts him to the smiles and 
bounty of another lady, equally Christian in character, and 
more so by education. This was the lady Callamata, who 
" largely supplied all his wants." We know nothing 
more of her than this. Nothing is said in the narrative to 
awaken a single suspicion of the perfect purity and sim- 
plicity of her benevolence. With that respectful and con- 
siderate regard for the sex, which invariably marks the 
bearing of our hero when he approaches them, his lan- 
guage is frank yet unequivocal, — gentle and affectionate, 
yet always within the limits of a becoming warmth and 
propriety. " The Good Lady Callamata largely supplied 
all his wants," is the single phrase which declares his 
obligations in the text. Subsequently, in his dedication 
of the " Generall Historie of Virginia, &c.," to the " Illus- 
trious and most noble Princesse, the Lady Francis, Du- 
chesse of Richmond and Lenox," he sums up his general 
indebtedness to the sex in a single paragraph, for which 
this may be a place quite as appropriate as any. Apolo- 
gizing for his presumption in calling an eye " so piercing" 
and '* so glorious" as that of her grace, to view his " poore 
ragged lines," he is yet encouraged by the recollection of 
their previous kindness and indulgence. " My comfort is 



84 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SM I IH. 

that heretofore honorable and vertuous ladies, and com- 
parable but amongst themselves, have offered me rescue 
and protection in my greatest dangers. Even in forraine 
parts I have felt reliefe from that sex. The beauteous 
Lady Tragabigzanda, v^^hen I was a slave to the Turkes, 
did all she could to secure (succour ?) me. When I over- 
came the Bashaw of Nalbritz, in Tartaria, the charitable 
Lady Callamata supplied my necessities. In the utmost 
of many extremities, that blessed Pokahontas, the great 
King's daughter of Virginia, oft saved my life. When I 
escaped the cruelties of Pirats and most furious stormes, 
a long time alone in a small boat at sea, and driven ashore 
in France, the good lady. Madam Chanoyes, bountifully 
assisted me. And so, verily, these my adventures have 
tasted the same influence from your gratious hand, &c." 

This is all perfectly unexceptionable, and we do not 
perceive in this accumulation of references any signs of 
that complacency which, in the case of such a person, 
having such a history to unfold, might seem pardonable 
enough. What is said in regard to the Lady Callamata, 
does not show her to have been influenced by any feelings 
less pure and more passionate than that of a human and a 
Christian sympathy and pity. But some of his eulogists 
are less forbearing, and make larger assertions when they 
come to deal in rhyme ; and the good Lady Callamata, 
who, for aught that we know, may have been an ancient 
matron, entirely past the period of youthful susceptibility, 
is described in the same category with the Turkish dam- 
sel, who only waited to be her own mistress to become 
his. One of these poets, who signs himself " R. Braith- 
waite," writes, in the midst of other doggerel, such lines as 
the following : 

" But Avhat's all this 1 Even earth, sea, heaven above, 
Tragabigzanda, Callamata^s love, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 85 

Dear Pocahontas, Madame Shanois, too, 

Who did what love with modesty could do," &c. 

We see no reason, and find no authority for the impu- 
tation. Smith does no more, in the case of this lady, than 
acknowledge her bounty to an unfortunate. And this is 
done with the gentlemanly solicitude of one who is habitu- 
ally earnest in his deference to the sex. That his per- 
sonal bearing had its effect upon those, of both sexes, by 
whom he was favorably entertained, is very likely. That 
it quickened the pulses of female charity is probable 
enough. He seems to have been of that class of persons 
who impress favorably at a glance ; was manly and grace- 
ful, exceedingly courteous in his bearing, frank in his 
deportment, and of features at once pleasing and impres- 
sive. He finds ready credence when he shows himself, 
and his narrative is heard. It is not from the Lady Cal- 
lamata alone that he finds favor at Ecopolis. The gover- 
nor takes off his irons, treats him so kindly that " he 
thought himself new risen from death ;" and when he is 
invigorated and prepared to depart, gives him letters of 
recommendation and the protection of a convoy to Her- 
manstadt, in Transylvania. His melancholy story of 
captivity precedes him on his route ; and his journey 
through the wretched and sterile regions which he is 
compelled to pass, is everywhere soothed by the attention 
of the people. The grateful heart, of our adventurer 
prompts him to declare, that " in all his life he seldome 
met with more respect, mirth, content, and entertainment ; 
and not any governor where he came, but gave him some- 
what as a present besides his charges." The sympathy 
of the people was due in some degree to their common 
liability to a fate such as that from which he had the good 
fortune to escape. At that period, the wretched country 

which he traversed was obnoxious to the frequent incur- 
8 



86 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

sions of the Tartars ; and it was but seldom that the peo- 
ple who were borne into captivity were so fortunate as to 
be able to return and tell the story. The story of our 
hero was one, therefore, which found its echo upon the 
hearth of many a peasant. Yet, says Smith, " it is a 
wonder [that] any should make warres for them." — 
" They are countries rather to be pitied than envied." He 
pauses to describe their hovels, which are like the meanest 
log-cabins of our frontier ; their modes of defence ; their 
weapons ; and the manner in which their roads are con- 
structed ; — all of which indicate the very lowest condition 
of human civilisation. 

Arrived in Transylvania, he had the satisfaction of 
meeting with many of his old friends and associates, who, 
knowing his worth and valor, had long lamented him as 
among the slain on the fatal field near Rottenton. Among 
these friends were his colonel, Meldritch, and Prince 
Sigismund. They received him with open arms, and 
attentions so affectionate and warm, that he professes him- 
self " glutted with content, and neere drowned with joy." 
It was on this occasion that he received his honors from 
the hands of Sigismund, and fifteen hundred ducats of 
gold to repair his losses. " But to see and rejoyce him- 
selfe (after all those encounters) in his native country," 
he would scarcely have torn himself away from his friends 
in Transylvania. 

The liberality of Sigismund, whom he styles '^ the 
mirror of virtue," enabled him to traverse a considerable 
portion of Germany, France, and Spain ; to linger in their 
principal cities, and visit all places that seem to promise 
most gratification to his curiosity. It is probable that 
while his ducats lasted he found sufficient excitement in 
the populous cities of Europe ; and felt no great thirst 
after new adventures. He forgets for a season that he was 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 87 

hurrying home " to rejoyce himself in his native country," 
and makes a tour which in extent would, even at the pre- 
sent day of steam navigation, do honor to a traveller going 
abroad for the first time. Satisfied at length, as he him- 
self tells us, with Europe and Asia, and hearing of the 
wars in Barbary, he suddenly feels an impulse to new 
adventures in this quarter, which it is not possible for him 
to withstand. In all probability it has become necessary 
to replenish his purse. To return to England as destitute 
as when he left it, scarcely comports with his ambition : 
and though he tells us nothing of this sort, the suggestion 
is by no means inconsistent with his own conduct, and 
with the nature of the individual. He proceeds accord- 
ingly to the African coast, where he forms an intimacy 
with the captain of a French man-of-war, named Merham, 
who soon became attracted to our adventurer, and appears 
to have become quite as fond of him as the Lady Calla- 
mata. With this person, and twelve others, he goes on 
an excursion to Morocco, the ancient monuments of which 
he desired to examine. He gives us, in the space of a 
couple of chapters, a brief but comprehensive account of 
the things he saw, and a summary of what he had learned 
by reading and the reports of others, in relation to the 
country which he visited. His narrative is enlivened by 
several traditions and anecdotes gathered in this manner, 
and characteristic of the country and the people, which, 
as they do not in any v/ay concern his own fortunes, we 
forbear to notice. His conclusion, from his inquiry into 
the politics of the Barbary States, is to have nothing to do 
with either party in the civil wars by which the country 
is distracted, and which first drew his attention to its 
shores. The perfidious character of the natives, '' their 
bloody murthers, rather than warre," only provoke his 
loathing ; and he returns with his Frenchman, Captain 



88 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

Merham, to the man-of-war, destined, in his own language, 
'' to try some other conclusions at sea." 

It is not so certain, in going on board the ship of Mer- 
ham a second time, that our adventurer proposed to take 
any decided step with him, or indeed contemplated any- 
thing more than a brief visit. His narrative speaks of the 
visit and invitation as one for the day only ; two or three 
other persons, not of the craft, being the guests also, and 
with similar invitations. But the welcome of the French- 
man was so warm, and his hospitality so grateful, that 
whether designedly on his part or not, they linger on 
board too late to return to the shore that night, and are 
constrained, not unwillingly we fancy, to take their beds 
in the vessel. The evening was fair at first and pleasant, 
but by midnight such a storm arose as to compel our 
excellent Frenchman to sHp his cables, and carry his 
guests with him to sea. We do not hear that Smith ever 
complained of any baggage left behind him. Our French- 
man is compelled to run before the wind, and before the 
parties know where they well are, his ship is at the 
Canaries. This flight resolves itself into a cruise, and as 
the storm abated and the seas grew smooth, Merham 
amused himself and guests by capturing an occasional 
vessel laden with wine of TenerifFe ; thus converting a 
mishap into a very profitable sort of exercise. In this 
pursuit, however, his eagerness carried him a thought too 
far, and pressing all sail to overhaul two strange vessels 
which had hove in sight, he suddenly finds that he has 
caught a Tartar, in the shape of two sturdy Spanish men- 
of-war, far superior in force to his own. But this does 
not quell the spirit of our Frenchman. Merham, whom 
Smith calls " an old fox," " seeing himselfe in the lion's 
pawes," showed a clean pair of heels, but not so clean as 
to escape altogether the consequences of his temerity. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 89 

His chase had been too eager to make escape easy, though 
he prided himself upon his vessel as a fast sailer. The 
action became unavoidable, and was one of those fierce 
and bloody struggles of which naval history in all times 
affords us so many terrible instances. The Spaniards fell 
upon the Frenchman with a broadside, and succeeded, 
after a severe fight of an hour, in boarding him. The 
danger was imminent, and Merham's ship must have been 
carried or destroyed but for certain lucky cross-bar shots, 
and '' divers bolts of iron, made for that purpose," which 
at the fortunate moment drilled such a breach in one of 
the Spaniards as left her in a sinking condition. Of the 
consternation which ensued in the injured vessel the 
Frenchman availed himself so as to disengage his ship 
from the grapplings of the enemy, and to renew his efforts 
at escape. But the chase was hotly kept up by one of the 
Spaniards, and a running fight followed, which lasted from 
noon till night. By thi-s time the pursuing Spaniard was 
rejoined by his consort, who had succeeded in repairing 
her breaches, and the two together continued the chase 
with pertinacious diligence all night. They succeeded at 
length in overhauling their enemy a second time, and 
bringing him again to action within musket shot. On 
this occasion the stately Don began the affair with un- 
necessary civility, promising the Frenchman fair quarters 
if, without giving them farther trouble, he would surren- 
der to the flag of Spain. But Merham had no surrender 
in him. He knew, as Smith tells us, " well how to use 
his ordnance," and his answer to this civil soliciting was 
made by his cannon. The action was thus renewed, and 
the assailants a second time succeeded in laying the chase 
aboard. Our Frenchman fought with desperation, but 
the overwhelming force of the Spaniards enabled them 
to cover his decks, and to rush aloft in numbers to unslin^ 



90 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

his mainsail. This he contrived to bring down so sud- 
denly, while they were yet in the rigging, as to place 
them hors du combat ; while another party were blown 
off by the desperate Frenchman, with a part of the deck 
and the grating. These achievements, while they drove 
the Spaniards back to their own vessel, left that of Mer- 
ham on fire. Drawing off to escape this danger, the 
Spaniards kept playing upon him, seeking his destruction 
rather than his capture, which the desperate valor of the 
Frenchman seemed to render impossible ;— while on board 
the latter, to extinguish the flames gave sufficient occupa- 
tion to all hands. While the danger lasted none could 
be spared for the scarcely less pressing business of the 
conflict. The flames were at length extinguished, and 
this done, Merham renewed the fight with the same spirit 
as before. It was in vain that his enemies proffered to 
parley with him — to grant him the best of terras, and 
admit him to fair quarters. The desperate Frenchman 
had but one answer, and that was through his cannon. 
And thus another day was spent, and half the following 
night, when the fire of the enemy slackened and the dis- 
tance widened between the combatants. The firm cour- 
age and reckless valor of the Frenchman saved him ; for 
at dawn the Spaniards were no longer to be seen. This 
desperate action is not unlike that of the Serapis and the 
Bon Homme Richard. Merham must have been a warrior 
like Paul Jones ; and he probably found a worthy lieu- 
tenant in our adventurer. Smith modestly forbears saying 
anything about his own deportment in the action. You 
would scarce suppose him indeed to have been present, 
but for his evident familiarity with all its details. He 
describes at no second-hand. His events are vividly told, 
as by one who saw them all, and knew their motives and 
their consequences. His very phraseology has a sang- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 91 

froid about it which seems to show, not only that he be- 
lield, but that he enjoyed fully the whole terrible affair. 
From his known character there can be no doubt that he 
did so, and shared amply in all its dangers. He had 
always rejoiced in the excitements of war, and the une- 
qual conflict invariably warmed his chivalry. Reasoning 
from all that we know of his genius and resolution, we 
need not question that these qualities largely seconded our 
Frenchman in the admirable and successful defence which 
enabled him to beat off and baffle his assailants. 



BOOK SECOND. 



CHAPTER I. 

We have now to change the scene in our eventful drama, 
and to show our hero, after all his perils, once more seated 
in safety within his native land. He returned to England 
some time in the year 1604. He was still a very young 
man to have undergone such vicissitudes and varieties of 
fortune. Few young men at twenty-five have ever lived 
through such a trying experience. But this experience 
had made a man of him indeed. His mind had ripened 
with his toil, his judgment had become matured in fields 
of danger, and in the life-conflict with a thousand necessi- 
ties; and without losing any portion of that energy of cha- 
racter, and enthusiasm of spirit and of temperament, which 
had forced him upon the paths of enterprise, and made the 
field of peril grateful to his impulses, he was now better 
prepared than ever to convert these admirable qualities of 
courage into useful and efficient agencies for the prosecu- 
tion of great designs. 

It was at a season highly auspicious to the exercise of 
these endowments that he returned to his native country. 
The spirit of colonial enterprise which, at a previous 
period, had been excited beyond the boundaries of reason 
and prosperity by the successful examples and discoveries 
of the Portuguese and Spaniards, and which numerous 
disasters had tended to discourage and subdue, had, under 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH* 93 

more favoring circumstances received a new impulse to 
exertion. The first effect upon the English people of the 
unfolding by Columbus of the ponderous gates of the At- 
lantic, had been rather injurious than serviceable to the 
interests of maritime and colonial adventures ; and the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth was distinguished by hopes and 
passions, founded upon discovery in the new world, such 
as no exertions in the adventurer, and no resources in 
nature, could have possibly appeased or realized. It was, 
in the first place, a subject of mortification to the English 
that their sovereign had rejected the eminent services of 
Columbus ; and the growing interests of commerce, under 
the wise and powerful administration of Elizabeth, goaded 
in especial by their jealousy of the Spaniards, and further 
stimulated by the recent grand defeat of the " Invincible 
Armada," enabled them to see, in some degree, how vast 
had been this sacrifice. The commercial mind of Eng- 
land was not disposed to yield El Dorado entirely to the 
Spaniard, and this mind, succored by an intellect more 
daring and perhaps more influential than its own, was soon 
enabled to diffuse throughout the national heart an intense 
passion for discovery and colonization in America. The 
eager eyes of popular desire were opened upon a realm of 
equal loveliness and treasure, which cupidity and curi- 
osity became equally anxious to explore. The master 
spirits of the age surrendered themselves to this passion. 
The voice of the nation seconded the impulse, and the 
very difficulties which the jealous Spaniard contrived to 
throw in the way of other empires seeking a similar path 
with himself, contributed to confirm the wild impressions 
which had gone into all lands of his miraculous treasures 
in the new. Romance took possession of the theme and 
dressed it in her richest habiliments. The sanguine gave 
their credence, and the sedate and doubtful knew not 



94 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

how to deny. The policy of many among the wise seemed 
to render denial injudicious, since, in the prosecution of a 
great work, the argument to the convert must be such as 
his nature will most readily receive. And yet it is very 
doubtful if the very wisest among them did not acknow- 
ledge as probable the gorgeous fictions narrated of the 
new world, which the experience of the old had never 
yet found true. Sir Walter Raleigh himself, a man of 
not less intellect than ambition, whose character, by the 
way, bold, sanguine and impulsive, martial in spirit and 
curious in research, very much resembled that of Smith, 
though with the advantages of far better training in youth, 
and more approved associations in manhood ; he, too, was 
one of those who certainly deceived themselves quite as 
much as they deceived others, yielding a too willing faith 
to their own fancies. In his day and that of Queen Eliza- 
beth, the vulgar mind everywhere in Europe was possess- 
ed of impressions in regard to America which were worthy 
only of the fairy empires of Aladdin; and the popular histo- 
ries of the new continent were better suited to the invention 
of a quick-witted sultana,* in danger of the bowstring, than 
the sober speculations of the sage and reverend grey-beards 
with whom they found such ready credence and respect. 
Seen through this happy medium it was the land equally 
of refuge and delight. To the boy-dreamer about Arcadia 
and the golden age, it offered all that imagination could 
conjecture and Astrsea could supply. To the veteran, 
grown grey in stratagems and spoils, without having grown 
strong in their retention, it opened the most easy paths for 
the attainment of his selfish objects. Freedom from all 
restraints of law, and conflict only with a people entirely 



* Scheherazade, the sultana — see Introductory Chapter to the Aror 
bian NighW Enter tainiiients. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 95 

put without its pale and protection, were considerations 
beyond price to the habitual ruffian, who, in the world 
itself, found nothing more precious than an oyster which 
he was permitted to open with his sword ; and England, 
to say nothing of the continent, was filled with " men in 
buckram" such as these. To the disbanded soldiery of 
the Low Countries in particular, to which England had 
sent her full share of discontents and profligates — the pros- 
pect of conflict with the native savages in a region where 
gold had a vegetable period of birth and growth, and was 
to be had for the gathering, was rather more grateful 
as the medium for the acquisition of wealth than the 
wretched drudgery of the ordinary tasks of industry. To 
the young and fanciful the same wild regions offered the 
romance of eternal forests, the beauty of strange land- 
scapes, and the foreign charms of a race of dusky and con- 
fiding beauties, not to speak of that exquisite twilight pic 
turesque, which ever paints the far-off and the foreign in 
the natural landscape. Others again, the enthusiasts in 
the world of contemplation, longed for the subdued plea- 
sures of a life passed in solitude — a passion, which is so 
frequently found, in youth, to possess for a season the 
hearts of those who are equally ambitious and energetic, 
and who seem in this way to find a necessary repose of 
the mind before it is bent and strained to its uttermost 
tension in aiming at objects which call for great decision 
and endeavor. To another class, religion came with her 
persuasions also ; and her arguments, urged in behalf of 
the heathen of the strange countries not yet admitted into 
the fold of Christ, afforded specious pretexts, by which 
avarice and ambition contrived to deceive their neighbors, 
and not unfrequently themselves. These various motives, 
commerce and cupidity, romance, ambition and religion, 
were still sufficiently influential, in spite of numerous com- 



96 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

plete defeats, in enterprises of the same description, to 
bring together many a motley band to whom the forests 
of America promised full satisfaction for all the desires of 
their hearts. To these may be added yet another class, 
of whom Walter Raleigh himself and our own hero, Smith, 
may be mentioned as sufficient specimens, who loved ad- 
venture for its own sake, who never looked to the mere 
personal rewards, and not often or too closely to the conse- 
quences, and who were better pleased to be doing and 
achieving, even if suffering also, than in the acquisition of 
the spoils, or even the honors of the achievement. 

Smith's arrival in England was singularly opportune, 
not only as it regarded his own employment, but in rela- 
tion to the success of the experiment, now once more to 
be renewed, which had always met before with failure. 
He brought to the work a degree of courage and expe- 
rience, of skill and resource, which made him a person of 
mark wherever he appeared. He was not long in making 
himself known to those who took most interest in mari- 
time adventure ; and indeed his reputation had in some 
measure preceded him, and prepared the public mind to 
regard him as one particularly fitted for the exigencies of 
the time and its peculiar object. That object was scarcely 
of so vague and deceptive a character as it had been in 
the previous reign. The actual experience acquired by 
British mariners in the time of James the First, had fur- 
nished a greater body of facts, on the subject of foreign 
countries, to the nation, than it had possessed during the 
sway of Elizabeth. The defeat of the Armada was one of 
the great events to which the English people owe their 
rapid progress upon the high seas. It taught them an 
increased confidence in their skill and prowess, the results 
of which were steadily increasing, under the exercise of 
their powers, and these powers were mainly exercised in 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 97 

the business of discovery in foreign lands. It may be 
well, for the better comprehension of our history, to glance 
briefly at the progress, in this particular, during the reign 
of Elizabeth. A brief space will suffice for this object. 
The commercial career of England may be said to have 
begun in the time of Henry the Seventh, in the maritime 
labors and discoveries of the Cabots. At that early period 
it was proposed to plant colonies in the new world. The 
reign of his successor, though hardly favorable to the com- 
merce of his kingdom, was yet not wholly unmarked by 
events which showed how certainly mercantile adventure 
was determined to make itself felt among the great inte- 
rests of the nation. The blood of the old Northmen was 
too large a constituent of the stock to be satisfied with the 
progress upon the seas of other and rival nations, without 
being desirous of contending with them upon an element 
which seems really to belong to the genius of the people. 
Voyages of discovery were undertaken in the time of 
Henry VIII. ; and a spirit sufficiently maritime was shown 
to awaken the special jealousy of the Spaniard. The 
statutes of Edward VI. continued to favor this rising and 
ambitious interest ; nor could the bigotry of Mary, who 
succeeded him — the creature, as she was, of a purely 
Spanish influence — suffice to check the excited and na- 
tural tendencies of the nation. The elevation of Elizabeth 
gave a new vigor to the efforts of her people in this, as in 
all other of the interests of the kingdom. Her successful 
resistance to Spain may be said to have placed England 
fairly afloat upon the high seas. Her ships penetrated at 
the same time the waters of the East and West, and were 
at the same moment in the rivers of Russia, the bays of 
Newfoundland, and among the Spanish galleons in the 
harbors of Spanish America. Seeking a northwest pas- 
sage, the possibility of effecting which had been asserted 
9 



98 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

by Cabot, Frobisher, in a small vessel, made his way to 
the shores of Labrador ; and, by these brilliant illusions, 
" golden" all, first prompted Elizabeth to an exhibition 
of royal patronage in an attempt to look for the precious 
metals in arctic abodes, at the very time Drake was gain- 
ing that glory which redeems his name from the charge 
of piracy by the circumnavigation of the globe. Sir Hum- 
phrey Gilbert, the step-brother of Raleigh, shared his 
passion for discovery, and we may add his fortunes. With 
more moderate views of the results of adventure, and more 
rigorous and reasonable aims, he obtained a liberal patent 
and put to sea in 1579. But the event was failure and 
mortification. A second attempt was more unfortunate 
still, and the stout old mariner perished at sea. 

Raleigh's experiments followed those of his step-bro- 
ther, and were scarcely more successful. His vessels, 
under the Captains Amidas and Barlow, coasted the Caro^ 
linas in 1584, penetrated Ocracocke inlet, and formal pos- 
session, with the usual ceremonies, was taken of the 
country ; which, in honor of the " Virgin Queen,'' was 
called Virginia. On this occasion, however, no settlement 
was attempted. That was reserved for the ensuing year, 
when, under the same charter, a colony of one hundred 
and eight men was confided to Sir Ralph Lane. The 
settlement was made on the island of Roanoke, and some 
fruitless explorations were made in the neighboring coun- 
try. But a single year sufficed for the experiment, when 
the colonists abandoned their lonely hamlet and returned 
to England. Fifty men,* left by Sir Richard Grenville, in 
1586, in charge of the deserted settlement, were massacred 
in a little while ; their miserable remains alone being found 



* Bancroft says fifteen ; Smith and others fifty. The latter seems 
the more probable number. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 99 

in and about their ruined habitations, in warning to their 
successors. But Raleigh was not yet discouraged. A 
new colony was planted, and this time the solitude and 
sterility of the wilderness were cheered, in the eyes of our 
Englishmen, by the presence of woman. But theis did 
not avail. The history of the colony is a blank. Of its 
fate we know nothing. But a single authentic fact 
remains to us ; namely, that during its brief existence of 
little more than a year, one female child was born in the 
wilderness to the foreign settlers, and received the name 
of Virginia, after the European name of the country. 

Raleigh was a ruined man. He could no longer pursue 
his enterprises on the strength of his own resources ; but 
still resolute in his experiment.s, he endeavored to do so 
by means of companies. Unhappily for himself and his 
cause, his personal attempts were all made in other lati- 
tudes. Had he himself but led his colonists to Virginia, 
instead of wasting himself in fruitless researches after 
mines in Guiana, his own fate and that of the colonies in 
North America might have been far more fortunate. His 
enterprises seem really to have failed through the misera- 
ble incompetency, the want of moderation, prudence, skill 
or courage, among his agents. But his spirit survived 
himself! 

This disastrous history wonderfully tended to subdue 
the eagerness of English adventure in colonizing North 
America. As John Brierton, one of the adventurers of a 
later day, expresses it, " all hopes of Virginia thus aban- 
doned, it lay dead and obscured from 1590 till this year 
1602." Then it was that Bartholomew Gosnold made his 
way across the Atlantic, and, contenting himself with a 
cargo of sassafras, returned to England after an absence 
of four months. This voyage renewed the subject in 
men's minds of Virginia colonization. A second expedi- 



100 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

tion, consisting of tAvo small vessels, was sent out by pri- 
vate adventurers, under Martin Pring — only a few days 
after the death of Elizabeth — and this voyage was also 
comparatively successful, met with no disaster, but made 
no settlement. Other expeditions followed. The way, 
still an indirect one (for the direct passage was very gra- 
dually attained) became at length fairly opened, the path- 
way familiar, and moderate successes stimulated anew 
the passion for maritime adventure, which had been sick- 
ened so completely by disaster, and by the failure of all 
its brilliant anticipations. 

Such was the condition of English discovery in America, 
and such the condition of the popular mind in England, 
when Smith reached his native country from abroad. We 
are not told where his French cruiser set him down, nor 
in what manner he passed from the continent of Europe to 
Great Britain ; but there we find him somewhere in 1604, 
already busy in urging upon the public the claims of Vir- 
ginia to colonization, and linking his fortunes with those 
of Bartholomew Gosnold, Edward Maria Wingfield, 
Robert Hunt and others. An ample patent was obtained, 
but nothing more, from James the First, with leave to 
" deduce a colony into Virginia." Circumstances were 
in favor of the experiment. The time for American colo- 
nization had arrived. The route across the Atlantic was 
comparatively familiar, and the wild and wondrous character 
of the enterprise having been taken from it in some degree 
by the absolute facts of which the public were in possession, 
secured for it the support of a more steady and solid, 
though a less imposing countenance. The edge of romance 
had been somewhat taken from the appetite of adventure, 
and though the precious metals were still the objects of 
insane search and speculation, and though the accounts 
were still extremely exaggerated in all the descriptions of 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 101 

Virginia, yet there was no longer that wild fancy which 
taught that the gold was to be had for the gathering, and 
all was to be smiles, and sunshine, and smooth sailing in 
the experiment. There was work to be done, and dangers 
were to be met, and toils endured ; and hence the impor- 
tance of a man like Smith, to whom these were not only 
familiar but grateful. It required the active parties more 
than a year of zealous service in England before they 
could move " certain of the nobility, gentry and mar- 
chantes" to entertain their schemes ; in other words, fur- 
nish the necessary funds for their prosecution — Gosnold, 
Wingfield, Hunt, Smiih and others, being thought to have 
risked quite enough when they perilled their lives upon 
the adventure. The letters patent, bearing date April 
10th, 1606, were issued to Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George 
Somers, Richard Hackluyt and their associates. This, 
the first charter under which the English succeeded in 
planting a colony in America, was one which was design- 
ed to establish a mercantile corporation. It allotted a suf- 
ficiently ample territory, extending on the sea-coast of 
America from the thirty-fourth to the forty-fifth degrees 
of north latitude, together with all islands within a hun- 
dred miles of their shores. This was to be divided be- 
tween two rival companies, — one of which, however — 
that in which Smith was a leader — alone succeeded, and 
to this alone will our attention be directed. The territory 
actually yielded by the charter to the one company, occu- 
pied exclusively " the regions from thirty-four to thirty- 
eight degrees of North latitude ; that is, from Cape Fear 
to the southern limit of Maryland." The territory was 
ample, but the charter was one of the narrowest limita- 
tions. The selfish monarch granted nothing but a desert 
waste of forest, with the privilege of peopling and subdu- 
ing it, reserving to himself all authority. He framed the 
9* 



102 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMIl'H. 

la'ws, controlled the appointments, and looked largely to 
the future revenues. With that morbid jealousy of his 
sovereign prerogative, vv^hich rendered him tyrannical, 
v/hen nature perhaps only designed that he should be ridi- 
culous, he tenaciously took to himself the labor of devis- 
ing the whole scheme of the colonial government ; and 
contrived — very happily as he thought, but very unroyally 
as v^^e may be permitted to think, to say nothing of the 
blindness and peevishness of the whole proceeding — to 
withhold from the emigrants themselves every elective 
franchise, to deny them every attribute of self-government. 
" They were subjected," to employ the language of a mo- 
dern historian,* " to the ordinances of a commercial cor- 
poration, of which they could not be members ; to the 
dominion of a domestic council, in appointing which they 
had no voice ; to the control of a superior council in Eng- 
land, which had no sympathies with their rights; and, 
finally, to the arbitrary legislation of their sovereign." 
This was only so much rare fooling, by which the feeble 
king endangered the power, in the assertion of which his 
morbid jealousy kept him in continual and feverish appre- 
hension. The transmission of this miserable quality of 
jealousy to his unhappy descendants, without his own ac- 
companying love of approbation, was the true secret of all 
that was vile and wretched in their subsequent career and 
fate. 

But the folly of James did not end here. The names 
of governor and council, and his instructions how they 
should proceed, were all carefully sealed up and confided 
to them in a strong box, not to be opened till after their 
arrival in Virginia. They were consequently under no 
authority until that period, and to this circumstance some 

* Bancroft. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 103 

of the misfortunes which marked their voyage may be 
ascribed. Their squadron consisted of three small vessels, 
the largest not exceeding one hundred tons burthen ; the 
whole being under the command of Captain Christopher 
Newportj an experienced mariner. The colonists were 
but one hundred and five in number, of whom we learn 
that forty-eight were gentlemen^ twelve were laborers, four 
were carpenters, one was a blacksmith, one a bricklayer, 
one a tailor, one a mason, owe a barber, one a drummer, 
but one a sailor, two were chirurgeons, and there were 
four boys. The exceeding disproportion between the 
gentlemen and the mechanics and laborers reminds us 
irresistibly of the limited allowance of bread to sack in the 
domestic economy of FalstafF. Why gentlemen should 
be wanted in a wilderness would somewhat puzzle the 
philosopher ; and of those who went on this expedition 
we have a sufficient glimpse, contained in a single passage 
of the narrative of William Simons, reported by Smith, 
who describes '* some few of the greatest ranke amongst 
us as little better than atheists.'* 



CHAPTER II. 

Thus motley in the composition of their members, the 
colonists set sail from Blackwall, on the 19th day of De- 
cember, 1606 — a little more than one hundred years after 
the discovery of the continent by Cabot. The commence- 
ment of their voyage was inauspicious, and its progress 
was unhappy. They were not suffered for six weeks after 
anchor had been weighed, by reason of contrary winds, to 
lose si^ht of the Eno-lish coast. In this time our adven- 
turers employed themselves in the most scandalous dissen- 
sions, which arose at length to such a height of violence 
as to task all the best efforts of the more judicious among 
them to maintain the peace. Mr. Hunt, the preacher, a 
mild and sensible person, who had actively participated 
with Smith, Gosnold, and Wingfield, in originating the 
adventure, now approved himself worthy of the Christian 
ministry in the activity which he displayed in restoring 
harmony, or at least the appearance of harmony, among 
these ungenial spirits. But it was an appearance only, to 
be thrown aside upon the first new provocation, however 
slight. The substance of peace was wholly wanting to 
the company. The elements among them were of too 
mixed and conflicting character ; and these elements, from 
the silly commands of the king, that their instructions 
should not be opened until they had reached Virginia, by 
leaving them without any recognized authority, left them 
free to the indulgence of all their capricious moods and 
impulses. What share Smith had in these troubles and 
controversies does not appear. We are left only to con- 
jecture from what we know of his claims and character, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 105 

and from what is subsequently revealed to us of his treat- 
ment, that the provocation to their violence, in all proba- 
bility, came from him. That he was the true man of the 
expedition was probably very soon apparent to all parties. 
That he was not the most beloved on this account, is a 
fair presumption from what we know of the insolence, the 
insufferable pride and vanity of many of his companions. 
The account from which we draw our own, at this point 
of the narrative, is that of William Simons, " Doctour of 
Divinitie," who was not of the voyage, but who is very 
likely to have procured his intelligence from Hunt. Si- 
mons distinctly ascribes this dissension to envy of, and hos- 
tility to Smith, on the part of those " godlesse foes, whose 
disasterous designes (could they have prevailed) had even 
then overthrowne the businesse." The history is a com- 
mon one, and the motive insisted upon is, unhappily, in 
the weak and vicious state of our depraved humanity, 
natural enough. The world-man cordially hates the God- 
man, and will destroy him if he can ; and the conflict, for 
life, and for all lives,is inevitable between them. We can 
readily conceive ho\v such a man, so taught by experience 
and all sorts of fortune, should, in their wretched wind- 
bound and storm-impeded progress to the Canaries, have 
given provocation in a thousand ways, by his very address 
and energy and natural command of character, to the herd 
of conceited gentlemen sent out to seek their fortunes, by 
whom he found himself surrounded. Easy for such a 
man, among such men, to stir up the acrid humors, to 
provoke bile, and bitterness, and wrath. His unquestiona- 
ble genius, his notorious experience, his noble aspect, his 
ready decision, these in all probability acquired him a 
command during the voyage, in place of the sealed author- 
ity of King James, to which a peevish vanity would not 
always be ready to submit. The storm which Preacher 



106 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

Hunt had partially quieted, burst forth with new violence 
when the little fleet of Newport reached the Canaries. 
Here, having matured their schemes, the malcontents 
seized upon the person of our adventurer and committed 
him to close custody, under charges equally ridiculous 
and scandalous, of sedition and treason to the crown- 
" some of the chiefe (envying his repute) who fained he 
intended to usurpe the Government, murther the Coun- 
cil, and make himselfe King ;" — a truculent conspirator to 
be sure — and " that his confederals were dispersed in all 
the three ships, and that divers of his confederats that 
revealed it would affirme it." Smith seems to have sub- 
mitted patiently, waiting events, economising his strength 
and courage, wasting nothing in vain struggles, vexing 
nobody with vain complaint — but manfully biding his 
time, and looking calmly to the coming trial. For thirteen 
weeks such was his condition. Meanwhile, our little 
fleet proceeded to the West India islands. It had pur- 
sued, as we see, the old circuitous route, — the path which 
the Genoese had first opened with his prows. At Domi- 
nica they took in water, carried on a smart trade with the 
" salvages," and enjoyed a refreshing respite of three 
weeks on shore ; in which it is very possible that our pri- 
soner was not permitted to share. Fortunately, he is one 
who has ably learned the great lesson of endurance. He 
waits in his chains with what philosophy he m>y, while 
the dominant party regale themselves among the soft airs 
and the delicious fruits and flowers of the tropics. If he 
is to be sovereign in Virginia he can very well aflbrd to 
wait. 

At length the voyage is resumed, and our little fleet 
steered northward, searching for the island of Roanoke. 
Three days had they passed their reckoning, yet found no 
land. The discontents increased, and Captain RatclilTe, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 107 

of one of the vessels, was urgent with them to abandon 
the whole expedition and return again to England. Such 
was the infirmity of purpose, the feebleness of will, and 
utter worthlessness of resolve among the very " chiefes^' 
who were most hostile to our adventurer. Luckily, while 
yet they debated, a violent storm which compelled them 
to hull it ail night under bare poles, drove them towards 
the desired coasts, which they made on the 26th of April, 
1607. The Bay of Chesapeake, a word signifying in the 
Indian dialect ^' mother of waters," — a name admirably 
applied — received the weary and exhausted wayfarers. 
To the first land which they descried they gave the name 
of Cape Henry, to the opposite Cape that of Charles ; 
and the point of land which breasted the pleasant harbor- 
age in which they dropped their anchors, they called 
" Comfort," in token of the grateful emotions with which 
its appearance had filled their bosoms. The beauty of the 
scene around them sank sensibly into their hearts, soften- 
ing their moods, and elevating all their fancies. The 
green plains, with their great trees and wanton foliage, 
dipping into the very lips of the ocean, now just beginning 
to flush and brighten in the embrace of spring, were 
doubly beautiful in the eyes of those so long saddened 
with only the aspect of the sea. The world of wood and 
waste, green and fresh, which spread away with hill and 
dale, crowned with the profuse luxuriance of the unbroken 
forest, seemed to them to embrace a very paradise, in 
which they might well delight to plant their homesteads, 
fully assured that it was under the especial eye of heaven. 
Smith, in his pleasure at the prospect, speaks fully for the 
rest. " Within," says he, '* is a country that may have 
the prerogative over the most pleasant places knowne." 
* * * a Heaven and earth never agreed better to frame 
a place for man's habitation, were it fully manured and 



108 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

inhabited by industrious people. Here are mountainesj 
hills, plaines, valleyes, rivers, and brookes, all running 
most pleasantly into a faire bay, compassed, but for the 
mouth, with fruitfull and delightsome land." 

The land which they had discovered had never been 
seen by any of them before. Their destination had been 
the island of Roanoke, distinguished by previous attempts 
at colonization. The aspect of the region which rose up 
around them, in all the magnificence of its primeval state, 
in its unpruned luxuriance and beauty, seemed to promise 
full satisfaction for all their desires; and, availing them- 
selves of the discretion which had been allowed them, 
they preferred rather to try the experiment of a colony in 
this attractive country, than to continue their search after 
a spot which was really only known to them by disaster. 
A party of thirty of them went ashore at Cape Henry to 
*' recreate themselves," and received an unexpected les- 
son of caution — which, however, did not avail them to any 
great extent — in consequence of the assault of five Indians, 
who crept upon them from the hills, and though beaten 
off by the terrors of their muskets, wounded two of the 
party very severely with their arrows. They were thus 
warned that, if the country was beautiful, its inhabitants 
were brave — a lesson too frequently taught by them in 
long succeeding conflicts to be easily forgotten by those 
whose fortune it is to possess the pleasant places of their 
inheritance. 

Virginia being now reached, it may be well to see in 
what manner the British Solomon proposes that the new 
colony shall be governed. The sealed box of their in- 
structions was accordingly opened on the night of their 
arrival, and the documents were spread before the colo- 
nists. By these it was discovered that the council was to 
consist of Edward Maria Wingfield^ Bartholomew Gosnoldj 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 109 

John Smith, Christopher Newport, John Raddiffe, John 
Martin, and George Kendall. These were to serve for 
one year, and to elect their president from among them- 
selves. This is all that concerns us to know of these 
instructions, and the way that they were disposed of. It 
does not appear that Smith was present at the opening of 
the seals. He was still in bonds ; still waiting with pa- 
tience for the coming of his hour. 

To select a proper spot for a settlement, our colonists 
were employed seventeen days. During this period they 
were busy in the work of exploration. The treasures of 
the earth and of the deep were searched for with industry. 
In the latter they groped for oysters, which lay in places 
as " thick as stones," and the former they found covered 
with " flowers of divers kinds and colors," and " goodly 
trees, cedars, cypress, and other kinds," goodly as ever 
seen by British voyager before and elsewhere. Straw- 
berries, too, refreshed their eyes and lips, " fine and beau- 
tiful," four times bigger and better than ours in England." 
A brave world at first beginning for our discontents. 
" Pleasant springs issue from the mountains," " the good- 
liest cornfields ever seen in any country," salute their 
eyes, and give ample guarantee against famine ; and they 
are refreshed by the fumes of tobacco from the pipes of 
savages, who give them a more friendly welcome than 
that which they met from the five creeping scoundrels at 
Cape Henry. These invite them to their towns of Ke- 
coughtan and Rappahannock, spread their mats for them 
when they come, feed them with hominy when they hun- 
ger, and teach them to smoke a pipe after the repast. 
" As goodly men" as our Europeans " had ever seen" are 
these savages ; no ways savage, gentle, quite civil indeed ; 
their werowance, or chief, coming at their head to meet the 
strangers, playing on a flute made of a reed, with a crown 
10 



110 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

of deer's hair, colored red, in fashion of a rose, fastened 
about his knot of hair, and a great plate of copper on the 
other side of his head, with two long feathers in seeming 
of a pair of horns placed in the midst of his crown. Scarce- 
ly a Christian costume in the eyes of Christians, but not 
amiss in the thinking of our Virginians. As we are to 
have much future commerce with this people it may be 
as well to continue this description, which comes to us 
from the pen of George Percy, a brother of the Earl of 
Northumberland, a volunteer in the expedition, who has 
given us a very interesting narrative to be found in Pur- 
chas. 

" His body (that of the Werowance) was painted all 
with crimson, with a chain of beads about his neck ; his 
face painted blue, besprinkled with silver ore, as we 
thought ; his ears all behung with bracelets of pearl, and 
in either ear a bird's claw through it, beset with fine cop- 
per or gold. He entertained us in so modest a proud 
fashion, as though he had been a prince of civil govern- 
ment:" — as we suspect he was, Mr. Percy, after the 
fashion of his country. The Indians were armed " with 
bows and arrows in a most warlike manner, with the 
swords at their backs beset with sharp stones and pieces 
of iron, able to cleave a man in sunder." 

Penetrating a spacious river, which the Indians called 
Powhatan, after their king, but which our no less loyal 
colonists subdued into the James, in honor of him from 
whom they had received so liberal a charter, and such 
admirable counsels,— the little fleet of Newport ascended 
for a space of forty miles from its mouth. Here they 
fastened their vessels, in six fathoms of water, to trees 
growing upon the shore, and, landing upon a peninsula on 
the north side of the river, they fixed upon it as the site 
of their future settlement. '' A verie fit place," says 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. Ill 

Smith, " for the erecting of a great citie :" though it 
seems that there was some difference of opinion among 
the captains even then upon this subject ; and subsequent 
experience seems to have proved the propriety of the 
doubt. But here, nevertheless, the majority so willing it, 
on the 13th day of »May, 1607, the axe was buried in the 
trees, and the first shafts were hewn out for the foundation 
of the forest city of the Royal James, — henceforward to be 
called Jamestown. But the foundation of the city was a 
small and trivial event to that of the great nation which 
has yet grown from this small beginning : and he whose 
eye beholds now upon this memorable but neglected spot 
no trophy more significant than the rents of ruin in the 
arches of a single tower overgrown with ivy, and the rank 
forest growth which denotes the mound where sleep the 
bones of the early settlers, will scarcely be persuaded that 
he beholds the obscure nest and birth-place, as lowly as 
that of the sea-fowl which leaves her eggs along the 
shore, of the great nation whose wing now spreads, or is 
fast spreading, over the whole vast continent of North 
America. Such is, nevertheless, the simple and the 
startling truth ! One hundred and ten years have elapsed 
from the discovery of the country by Sebastian Cabot, 
and twenty-two since Raleigh first attempted unsuccess- 
fully its colonization. From this memorable movement 
the tree takes root, in the future shade of which a mighty 
people are to find shelter, and in the fruits of which a 
thousand generations are to gather strength and sustenance. 
Verily, we may not look upon that ruin of a town, that 
low and lonely remnant of our royal hamlet, on the north 
side of the river Powhatan, with unconcern and indiffer- 
ence ! 



CHAPTER III. 

The site of their future habitations c^sen, the first duty 
of our council was to appoint a President. Their choice 
fell upon Mr. Wingfield, by whom the members of the 
council were sworn to the performance of their duties. 
From this privilege Smfth was especially excluded ; the 
president declaring his reasons for the exclusion in a 
speech, which we may easily suppose embodied the 
several charges which had been made against him, of 
treason and sedition. We can readily understand the pro- 
priety, nay, the absolute necessity of excluding from a 
seat in the government, an individual who. stood under 
such imputations ; and though the exclusion was in direct 
disobedience of that authority under which they acted as 
a council, yet we are of opinion that it is a vital constitu- 
ent of every social or political body to be able to deter- 
mine who shall properly appear among them. It certainly 
does not seem an injustice — assuming that the members 
of the council are themselves free from improper agency 
in the matter — that, while such charges are pending over 
the head of an associate, they should refuse to grant him 
an exercise of power which might contribute to the pro- 
motion of the dangerous designs which he is supposed to 
meditate. And we are bound to believe, until the issue 
is known, that the council consists of honest men, who are 
only solicitous of what is right. At all events, Smith 
makes no complaint. You hear no murmurs from his lips. 
He is cool and resolute, patient as strong men generally 
are, not anxious about the result, pretty well assured, in- 
deed, what it must be. He knows the persons with 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 113 

whom he has to deal ; has sounded their depths aheady, 
and is familiar with all their shallows. What is more, he 
knows himself — his innocence and his resources equally ; 
and steadily maintaining his temper and his calmness, he 
fortifies himself in the daily increasing confidence and 
affections of those whose morbid vanities are not mortified 
by his evident superiority of character. 

But though his services are rejected from the council- 
seat, they are not to be slighted when the toils and perils 
of the field are to be undertaken. The colony is quite too 
feeble to forego the vigor of any able-bodied man, and 
as soon as the work begins we find our adventurer busy 
with the rest in providing for the security and comfort of 
the settlement. Trees are to be felled, forts to be raised, 
wigwams built, and clapboards are to be split for freight- 
ing the returning vessels — our patrons at home requiring 
as rapid return for the outlay as possible. Each man is 
assigned a labor suited to his capacities ; and while some 
are engaged upon the tents and cabins, some in the forest 
hewing trees and getting clapboards, others are weaving 
bushes into a shelter for their homesteads, and others are 
laying out gardens, and are preparing gins, snares, and 
nets for the taking of game and fish. In any of these 
labors we may be sure that Smith would hold his hand 
with, the best. But he is required for other toils ; and as 
soon as things begin to be tolerably secure and comforta- 
ble in the settlement, he is despatched with Captain New- 
port and twenty others on a voyage of exploration up the 
river of Powhatan. He offers no objection to this service, 
though nothing is said of his trial, and he is still denied 
the place in council which his sovereign has assigned him. 
But Smith is superior to his enemies. He entertains no 
sulks, has no petty revenges, but conscientiously having 
the good of the colony at heart, cheerfully goes upon the 
10* 



114 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

duty which is assigned him. They ascend the river to 
the hamlet of Powhatan himself, the great chief of the 
country, who dwelt near the falls, and just below the 
present site of Richmond. This prince is described as a 
" tall, well-proportioned man, with stern countenance, a 
head somewhat grey, his beard quite thin and insignificant, 
his limbs straight, his person erect, of an able and hardy 
frame, equal to any labor, and at the time of making the 
acquaintance of the English, near sixty years of age." He 
is the Emperor of all the country surrounding Jamestown for 
a space of sixty miles — is supposed, out of a population of 
six or eight thousand, to be able to bring from fifteen hun- 
dred to two thousand warriors into the field. Dwells in 
some state at his royal hamlet of Powhatan, but has nu- 
merous residences ; is ordinarily attended by a body guard 
of forty or fifty of the tallest men in his country ; and a 
strict military discipline environs his dwelling-place with 
guards day and night, who regularly relieve each other, 
and who neglect or slumber in their watches at peril of a 
bastinado, not unlike that of the Turkish in its severity. 
Like the Turk, he has his Hareem, his religion offering no 
limit to his appetite. When weary of his women, he be- 
stows them upon his favorites. His power seems to have 
been a pure despotism ; though it appears that under par- 
ticular circumstances his subjects are permitted the rare 
privilege of grumbling. They exercise this privilege 
when Smith and Newport visit the emperor at his village. 
They resent the intrusion of the strangers ; but Powhatan, 
with better policy, quiets their apprehensions while seek- 
ing to disguise his own. " They are harmless — :they want 
nothing but a little land." A little land ! The poor 
savages little know how nearly allied to a land's safety 
and their own is the knowledge of its value. Powhatan 
treated the English with a lofty courtesy. He was no 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 115 

common man among his tribe. A born sovereign, he ex- 
tended his domains by conquest, and absorbed the con- 
quered people among his own. He was of an ambitious 
and fearless nature, but rendered cautious by the usual 
training of the savage. An object of fear and awe among 
his subjects, the presence of the whites, among whom he 
evidently inspired no such sentiments, was ungracious to 
his eyes ; but with the sagacious instincts of a strong 
mind, he saw at a glance that he had to deal with a supe- 
rior race, and the weapon which he proposed to employ 
against them was one the use of which was familiar to 
his genius — treachery. 

Nobody could have been treated with more kindness 
and courtesy than were Smith and Newport by our Indian 
Emperor. Indeed, the entertainment which marked their 
progress among the Indians was one of the warmest hos- 
pitality. They were everywhere received with dancing 
and feasting. The food spread before them consisted of 
bread and fish, strawberries, mulberries, &c. ; in return 
for which the Indians received the most precious baubles 
in the shape of bells, beads, pins, needles, and looking- 
glasses, which made them the happiest of mortals for the 
time. Powhatan himself furnished them with a guide to 
explore the river, receiving a warrior as a hostage " in 
pawn " for the Indian. In this progress Smith exhibits 
his customary acutene.ss of remark, and his vigilance of 
examination into all that met his eyes. He has left 
us a considerable body of facts, collected on this and sub- 
sequent voyages, illustrative of the manners and habits of 
the Indians ; their costume, their religion, their super- 
stitions, their modes of going to war, and all the peculiari- 
ties in short which distinguish their condition, and all the 
facts or traditions which could illustrate their history. 
These materials, to this day, furnish the ample storehouse 



116 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

for the student seeking a knowledge of the condition of 
the aborigines of Virginia and the surrounding countries 
at the period of the English settlement. 

Having pursued their voyage of discovery until the 
river ceased to be penetrable by their prows, our voyagers 
returned to Jamestown — their return somewhat hurried by 
something suspicious in the demeanor of certain of the 
Indians on their route. It may be that Smith and New- 
port were rendered farther doubtful by the evident incom- 
petency of the president, Wingfield. This man, who is 
described as a " grovelling merchant of the West of Eng- 
land," seems to have been filled with an insane or idiotic 
jealousy of his own people, and would not only permit of 
no martial exercise or display among them, but actually 
arrested their labor in the erection of the necessary forts 
for the safety of the colony, so that of this work no- 
thing was done, but what was achieved, almost in his 
despite, by the extraordinary diligence of one of the cap- 
tains. A rude fortification in the shape of a half moon, 
consisting only of the boughs of trees heaped together, 
offered the only physical obstacle to the savages, who it 
appears were suffered to come and go at pleasure, their 
pacific behavior entirely disarming the English of their 
caution. The result was to be expected. The colonists 
were suddenly surprised by a force of four hundred Indians, 
and but for the timely aid afforded by the fire from the ship- 
ping they would have been cut off" at a blow. Scattered 
about at their different occupations, some in the woods, 
some at their gardens, and all unprepared — their very 
weapons not convenient to their hands — seventeen of 
them were wounded at the first onset, and one boy was 
slain. A cross-bar shot from the cannon of the shipping, 
rending the limbs from the trees above the heads of the 
Indians J 'ackily astounded them with a danger of unknown 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 117 

character, and dispersed them for the time, affording the 
English an opportunity to place themselves under cover, 
and prepare for their defence. The members of the coun- 
cil were among the sufferers. Most of them were hurt, 
and the President, Wingfield, was now better persuaded to 
risk something at the hands of his own people, in order to 
make the settlement secure against the open enemy. Our 
chronicles afford us no light on the subject of his appre- 
hensions. It is not said why this overweening jealousy 
of one another was entertained among the colonists. The 
fear seems to have mainly lurked among the members of 
the council, and we are left to conjecture entirely as re- 
gards its origin. We have but a single clue to a mystery 
which seems so difficult of solution ; and this occurs to 
us in the case of Smith. That he was a man of desperate 
valor, was well known to his associates ; that he was a 
favorite, calculated equally to lead and to persuade among 
the common people, was sufficiently apparent. It had 
been found necessary to the success of the settlement 
that he should be suffered to leave his prison and go forth 
upon his duties with the rest. Was it the guilty con- 
sciousness of the wrong which they had done him, that 
made them dread to place weapons in the hands of his 
followers and friends — that would " admit no exercise at 
armes," — and even arrested the progress to completion of 
the very fortress which was meant as a cover against the 
common enemy, lest, in a passionate mood and in a favora- 
ble moment, he should rise suddenly, and take vengeance 
for his wrongs. In all probability this wretched appre- 
hension was the true secret of the insane jealousy and 
weakness of the President. 

The fort was now palisadoed, the ordnance mounted, 
the men duly armed and exercised ; and it appears not a 
moment too soon. The first alarm at the discharge of the 



118 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

ordnance being over, the savages came back to the assault, 
and their attacks were frequent. They watched the pro- 
gress of the colonists with a degree of hostility that never 
suffered an opportunity of doing mischief to escape them. 
They ambushed the forest paths ; and the keen eye, and 
nimble foot, and deadly arrow of the savage, made it a 
death-peril for the colonists who straggled off without pro- 
tection from the garrison. " What toyle we had, with so 
small a power, to guard our workmen a dayes, watch all 
night, resist our enemies, and effect our businesse, — to 
relade the ships, cut downe trees, and prepare the ground 
to plante our corne," — may be readily conjectured. But 
the ships were at length laden ; and now that they were 
ready to depart, our President gave Captain Smith a 
kindly intimation that he should depart with them for 
England. The council was pleased benignantly to refer 
him for censure to the council in England under general 
charges, rather than, by trying him themselves, with the 
proofs in their possession, endanger his life, destroy his 
reputation, and make his good name odious to the world. 

This was cunningly devised. But they were yet to 
know the man with whom they had to deal. It was be- 
cause he valued his good name and his reputation, rather 
than his life, that he scorned their pretended indulgence, 
defied them to the proof of his guilt, and demanded his 
trial on the spot. And now it was, that his patience, his 
manly bearing, his good conduct, courage, and character, 
while in bonds and under accusation, produced their full 
effects. He had grown strong in all opinions. His inno- 
cence and the malice of his foes had made themselves 
apparent to the whole company in the thirteen weeks of 
his confinement, and the six subsequent weeks in which 
he had enjoyed comparative liberty. The council did 
not dare refuse him the trial which he demanded, and the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 119 

result was a triumphant acquittal. It was something more 
than an acquittal. It was redress and indemnity. He 
convicted his enemies of their malice ; the persons whom 
they had endeavored to suborn against him confessing 
the facts, and accusing the accusers of their subornation. 
So utterly disproved were the charges which were urged 
against him, and so notoriously malicious, that he was 
acquitted l)y acclamation ; and the President, in whom 
they originated, was condemned to pay two hundred 
pounds damages — a sum which Smith at once applied to 
the necessities of the colony. His magnanimity was not 
to be outdone by their justice. His seat in council was 
withheld no longer ; and this occasion was seized upon by 
the worthy preacher, Mr. Hunt, with " good doctrine and 
exhortation," to appease this and other animosities, which 
had sprung up among his flock. On the ensuing Sabbath 
they all partook of the communion, in confirmation of the 
sincerity and Christian character of their reconciliation. 
Peace was formally made the next day with the Indians ; 
and leaving the colony, consisting of one hundred and four 
persons, under these pleasant auspices, Newport sailed on 
the 15th of June for England, promising in twenty weeks 
to return with fresh supplies. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The pleasant auspices under which Newport left the 
colony did not long continue. The colonists began to 
suffer from the oppressive heats of summer. They were 
strangers to the climate, and engaged in labors for which 
no previous training had prepared them. Their food was 
bad, consisting of wheat and barley, which, having been 
kept for six months in the hot hold of a ship, was now 
rather bran than corn, and contained quite as many worms 
and insects as grains ! While the vessels remained, the 
evil had not been so severely felt. They enjoyed a daily 
allowance of ship's-biscuit, for which they paid the sailors 
in "money, saxefras, furres, or /oue." Their departure 
cut off this supply. The ships had been the taverns of 
our colonists. With them went hotel, and brewhouse, and 
bakery. " Had we beene as free from all sinnes as glut- 
tony and drunkennesse," says our narrative,* with a sad 
enough sort of humor, " we might have been canonized 
for saints." The common kettle was all that remained 
to them, and even of this the individual allowance was 
inadequate. Half a pint of wheat and as much barley, 
was as much as the President allowed per day for each. 
To himself he was much more indulgent. He engrossed 
for his private use, the " oatmeale, sacke, oyle, aqua vitiBy 
beefe, egges, or what not," liberally forbearing, however, 

* Chap. II. of third Book of Smith's Virginia, and evidently in 
great part from the pen of Smith himself, though signed, " written by 
Tfiomas Studley, the first cape merchant in Virginia, Robert Fcnton^ 
Edward Harrington^ and /. sy Smith (I. S.) probably wrote, and 
the others signed with him as witnesses. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 121 

to touch the contents of the common kettle. " Our drinke 
was water," says one melancholy humorist, " our lodgings 
castles in the ayre." Such diet and lodgings, coupled 
with severe labors, constant and diligent watch, in the 
oppressive summer climate of that region, were fatal to 
European health and strength. In a short time after the 
departure of the ships, so extreme was the suffering that 
scarcely ten men of the hundred were able to stand. 
Gosnold died ; Smith, Martin, and Radcliffe were all 
dangerously sick, and so were most of the soldiers. Fifty 
of them were buried, and those who survived were in 
danger of starvation. Their provisions, worthless as they 
had become, were soon consumed ; and from June until 
September they lived only upon sea-crabs and sturgeon. 
Very good living, too, it will be said, for famishing men ; 
but these they had to snare and take for themselves, 
almost too feeble, from long sickness, for toils so moderate. 
But the sea-crabs and sturgeon finally disappeared from 
the waters, and the terrors of famine returned upon them. 
At this very time our wretched colonists had reason to 
apprehend an inroad from the Indians, who during the 
midsummer had given them a little respite. Even while 
they suffered from this cruel condition and melancholy 
prospect, the selfish wretch to whom they had confided 
the Presidency was secretly meditating his own flight to 
England in the pinnace, leaving them to their fate. He 
had probably exhausted his private stores, and was now 
disposed to fly from the suffering which he had been wil- 
ling neither to relieve nor share. His treachery was dis- 
covered, and so much moved the colonists, in spite of their 
languor and prostration, that they deposed him and put 
Radcliffe in his place. This was substantially placing 
Smith at the head of affairs. Radcliffe was incompetent ; 
" of weak judgment in dangers, and lesse Industrie in 
11 



122 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

peace." He was perfectly satisfied that Smith should 
relieve him of the toils of his office and its responsibilities 
together. The result of this change was instantly appa- 
rent in the improved aspect of affairs. The manhood of 
Smith's character became conspicuous the moment that' 
he felt his burdens. Still feeble from sickness, not well 
recovered, he at once addressed himself to his tasks, as 
vigorously as when he fought the Turks at Regall, and 
made his way from Nalbritz to Wallachia. When he 
began his new labors there were no houses to cover the 
settlers ; the tents were rotten, and the cabins worse than 
useless. The chief men were sick or malcontent, the 
" rest being in such dispaire, as they would rather starve 
and rot with idleness than be persuaded to do any thing for 
their owne reliefs without constraint." With such neces- 
sities to encounter, with such materials to work withy 
Smith, by good words, fair promises, and his own exam- 
ple, succeeded in setting some to build, some to mow, 
others to bind, and others again to thatch — always, how- 
ever, tasking himself beyond any of the rest. In this way 
he managed to provide comfortable dwellings for all but 
himself, and to give to Jamestown, for the first time, the 
appearance of a decent hamlet. In these labors he seems 
to have met with little resistance, if he found but little 
sympathy and succor. The council, in consequence of 
the death of Gosnold, the departure of Newport, and the 
expulsion of Kendall — who had been concerned in the 
schemes of Wingfield — consisted only of Radcliffe, Martin, 
and Smith ; and of these Radcliffe and Martin were still 
upon the sick-list, neither of them being very much be- 
loved or very competent. It happened fortunately for the 
colony that Smith's exertions were seconded by the favora- 
ble aspect of the Indians, who, with their usual caprice of 
character, suddenly laid aside their bows and arrows, and 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 123 

brought supplies of maize, greatly needed, to barter with 
the Europeans. This supply lasted for some time. With- 
out waiting to see it all consumed, Smith prepared to 
provide against that event. And here our adventurer 
takes occasion to meet the complaints of those who w^ere 
disposed to blame the company in England for sending 
forth a colony with inadequate provision. The manly 
sense of justice, which makes so fine an element in his 
character, strikes the murmur at its root. He tells them 
they are '-'■ ill advised to nourish such ill conceits. * * * 
The fault in going was our own ; what could be thought 
fitting or necessary we had ; but what we should find, or 
want, or where we should be, we were all ignorant. * * * 
Supposing to make our passage in two moneths, with vic- 
tuall to live, and the advantage of the spring to worke, 
we were at sea five moneths, — where we both spent our 
victuall and lost the opportunitie of the time and season 
to plant, by the unskilful presumption of our ignorant 
transporters, that understood not at all what they under- 
tooke." 

This is laying the blame on the right shoulders. The 
true evil was in the vanity, the worthlessness, and utter 
selfishness of those to whom so much of the power had 
been intrusted. Our author proceeds in a general reflec- 
tion, which, even were it not that of Smith himself — as 
we believe it to be — is worthy to be preserved in this 
connection. 

" Such actions have, ever since the world's beginning, 
beene subject to such accidents, and everything of worth 
is found full of difficulties ; but nothing so difficult as to 
establish a commonwealth, so farre remote from men and 
meanes, and where men's minds are so untoward as nei- 
ther doe well themselves nor suffer others." — Truth in 
itself, but here a history, which accounts for all the mis- 



124 life' OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

haps of the colony to the present moment, and makes the 
merit so much the greater on the part of him by whom all 
obstacles of untoward minds and inferior means were finally 
overcome. 

A few months have made a surprising alteration in his 
own and the fortunes of the colonists. His enemies are 
deposed. The prisoner is taken from his cell and placed 
at the head of affairs. The spirit of exulting selfishness 
is humbled into silence — crushed down with conscious 
humiliation, while it beholds the noble forbearance of him 
whom it has injured to exult in turn. His revenges 
are of the kind commanded by Scripture. He heaps fire 
on the head of his foes, by deeds of manliness and mercy. 
He interposes for their safety, and with success. They 
are soon made to see that he alone can be successful, that 
he is the king-man of the expedition, a sovereign by the 
appointment of nature. No one looks to RadclifFe or to 
Martin ; Wingfield goes out of sight, remembered only as 
a poor thieving mercenary, from whom no man has any- 
thing to hope. Smith is master. He has compelled the 
tasks of labor ; he has done the work which no man had 
thought, or perhaps knew how to do before ; and now, as 
he sees the provisions of the Indians running low, he 
has measured out the allowances, and finds the supply suf- 
ficient for only eighteen days — he prepares to go in search 
of their granaries. He fits out the shallop, takes with 
him a select crew of seven men, and, with a store of Euro- 
pean commodities — hatchets, and beads, and bells, and 
glasses — he sets forth on a cruise. Ignorant of the Indian 
language, with seamen who neither know nor love the 
use of the oar, his men wanting in apparel, and few in 
number compared with the multitude of savages they 
must meet — these, he tells us, are impediments in his 
way, but do not discourage him. Descending the river to 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 125 

its mouth, he reaches the hamlet of Kecoughtan, where 
Hampton now stands. Here he found the natives too well 
acquainted with the condition of the colony to treat him 
with respect. They deride his offers of barter, and taunt 
his poverty with scraps of bread, tendered for their swords 
and muskets. The arts of trade are exercised in vain. 
They regard the fate of the colony as in their hands, and 
are not to be tempted with the toys and trifles which are 
spread before them. Courtesy finds nothing but inso- 
lence ; and the necessities of Smith are such as will not 
suffer him to return with empty hands. " Though con- 
trary to his commission," he " makes bold to try such con- 
clusions as necessitie inforced." His true commission is 
to see that the people do not starve, and to this all other 
commissions must give place. But, though determined 
to obtain by force what he cannot get by trade, he is yet 
willing to "do his spiriting gently." He suddenly gives 
them a volley, directed so as to do no hurt, and then boldly 
runs his boat upon the shore. At this decisive movement 
the savages betake them to the woods, and, marching upon 
the hamlet. Smith finds their houses well stored with 
maize. It is with difficulty that he can restrain his hungry 
companions from seizing at once upon the prize ; but he 
is too good a soldier to suppose that his enemy will suffer 
this. He keeps his men together and prepares them for 
the assault, which follows almost immediately. The 
savages, recovered from their panic, to the number of 
sixty or seventy, painted in a variety of styles and colors 
equally hideous and fantastic, came darting from the 
woods in order of battle, timing their movement with 
songs and dances, after the manner of the ancient Spar- 
tans. They brought with them their Okee, or god, a 
monstrous image made of skins, stuffed with moss, painted 
like themselves, and decorated with rude and uncouth 
11* 



126 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

ornaments. They were well armed with clubs and ar- 
rows, bows and targets, and charged the English without 
hesitation. Smith requites them, still disposed to pity, 
even where he must chastise, with pistol-shot only. These 
answer the purpose. The idol is the first, and perhaps the 
principal victim. It falls into the hands of the whites, 
while the red men again fly to the shelter of the woods. 
Some of them are hurt, but none, it would seem, severely. 
At all events these hurts provoke no anxiety, while all 
the apprehensions of the tribe are awakened for the fate 
and captivity of their god. He must be recovered. He 
has to be ransomed. They understand and comply with 
the conditions ; load the boat of the colonists with maize, 
and bring them besides a bountiful tribute of venison, tur- 
keys, and wild-fowl. Smith not only restores their Okee^ 
but takes them to his friendship and protection. He has 
shown. them that he can be a destroyer : he seeks to show 
them that he can be a benefactor also. He bestows upon 
them beads and hatchets, and they celebrate the recon- 
ciliation with songs and dances. His return to Jamestown 
infuses new life into the despairing settlers. But no 
increase of providence on their part follows his enterprise 
and industry. Their late miseries teach them no useful 
lesson. They waste as fast as he supplies, and his voy- 
ages require to be frequently repeated. In these voyages 
he is not only successful in procuring the necessary pro- 
visions, but he makes frequent discoveries of new towns 
and tribes ; forms their acquaintance, becomes known and 
remarked by them in turn, and notes the resources of the 
country, and the manners, habits, and numbers of the peo- 
ple. The Chickahominy was penetrated in this way, and 
a trade opened with the people of that river. The tribes 
of Wanasqueak, of Tappahannock, and of Paspahegh, fur- 
nished ample markets. The latter he styles a churlish 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 127 

and treacherous people, jealous of their acquaintance with 
other tribes, yet not themselves loving them — w^ho set 
spies upon their movements, and, but for the vigilance of 
our Captain, would have possessed themselves by stealth 
of the weapons of the Europeans. Smith travels among 
them by night and day, is always vigilant, yet never be- 
trays apprehension. He treats them with kindness always, 
and is entertained in like manner. So anxious do they 
become to trade, that they will give the grain to him if 
he will not buy it, and they follow him in their canoes for 
this purpose. But he must let them hear his musketry, 
and to oblige them he gives a volley to the wild fowl upon 
the river, the Indians much fearing and wondering to be- 
hold the feathers fly. 

Thus indefatigable, our hero is yet doomed to discover 
that his toil consists in drawing water in a sieve. He toils 
for the worthless and the ungrateful. The malcontents, 
now that they have recovered from their illness, have 
resumed all their evil nature. Wingfield and Kendall 
engage in a conspiracy, to which they persuade certain of 
the sailors, to seize upon the pinnace which Smith has 
kept in order for his domestic enterprises, appropriate the 
provisions which he has brought, and steal away for Eng- 
land. The conspiracy is fairly a-foot, when it is discover- 
ed by one of the mechanics. This man, showing some 
insubordination, was chidden by the President, whom he 
defied and assaulted with his smith's implements. For 
this act the offender is tried by a jury, and sentenced to 
be hanged. It is only when he is actually upon the gal- 
lows that he can be persuaded that he will not be rescued 
by those comrades whose secret practices hav<^ led to his 
mutiny. When actually assured of his fate, he revealed 
the secret of the conspiracy. This premature discovery 
urged the conspirators into instant activity. They seized 



128 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

upon the pinnace, and would have made off, but that 
Smith turned the guns of the fortress upon them, and 
forced them to remain where they were, or be sunk in 
the river. They chose the more prudent course, and the 
only victim to their insanity was Captain Kendall, the 
chief conspirator, who was tried by a jury, condemned, and 
shot to death.* 

Here it was Smith's energy again that interposed for 
the safety of the colony. It was his timely return that 
baffles the conspiracy, and saves the pinnace. His prompt 
decision, that, training the guns of the fort upon the con- 
spirators, conipels the surrender of their chief, and brings 
the rest back to their duty, without rendering necessary 
any lavish sacrifice of life. 

The conspiracy is no sooner quieted than our sleepless 
adventurer embarks upon a new voyage of trade and dis- 
covery. His course is up the Chickahominy, which the 
council desires him to follow to its source. He finds 
several new towns ; finds the store of grain in the country 
somewhat diminished, but procures a good supply, and 
returns to Jamestown, just in season to prevent another 
effort on the part of the malcontents to abandon the colony 
and return to Europe in the pinnace. But this attempt 



* This fact is thus distinctly stated in the narrative of Smith him- 
self, professing to be written by Tho. "Watson, Gent., entitled, " A 
true relation of such occurrences and accidents of noate as hath hap- 
pened in Virginia since the first planting of that colony," &c. Lon- 
don. 1608. According to Stith, Kendall is slain m the action; but 
this mistake seems to have arisen from the vague manner in which 
the facts are given in the third book of the " proceedings and acci- 
dents," where it is said that he (Smith) " with store of sakre and mus- 
ket-shot forced them stay, or sink in the river, which action cost the 
life of Capt. Kendall." In other words, the movement, the seizure 
of the boat, the overt act of treason, cost him (the chief conspirator) 
his life. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 129 

was after due form of law — a resolution submitted in coun- 
cil, and sustained by Captain Archer and the President ; 
Martin and Smith opposing it. It might have been diffi- 
cult to arrest this new movement, thus legitimate in form 
and appealing to the home-sickness of all parties, but for 
an agreeable change in the circumstances of the colony. 
The winter was approaching, and had covered the rivers 
with wild fowl in abundance. Ducks and geese were to 
be had for the gathering ; wild beasts, as fat as they could 
be eaten, drew near to the settlement, as if seeking to be 
slain ; and the prudence of Smith, his ample provision of 
the commodities furnished by the Indians — maize, pease, 
pompions, fish, and poultry — giving assurance of abun- 
dance through the winter, did more to quiet the discon- 
tents than any argument. Smith knew his countrymen 
well, and knew through what medium in especial it was 
required to approach their intellects. " The Spaniard," 
he himself remarks, ^' never more greedily desired gold 
than he victuall, nor his souldiers more to abandon the 
country than he to keepe it." The living was so good, 
" that none o-f our Tufftaffaty^ humorists desired to goe 

* This is not a coinage of our author. He has authority for it 
among the poets. The allusion is to the condition of the velvet 
habits of our gentlemen colonists. These were worn into tufts. The 
Taffeta or Taffaty had become tufty. The word is a compound of 
Tuft and Taflfata. Beaumont and Fletcher write ^'Taffattes, silk 
grogans, sattins, and velvets are mine," But Donne is more explicit, 
and applies directly to our case : 

" Sleeveless his jerkin was, and it had been 
Velvet, but 'twas now (so much ground was seen) 
Become tufftaffatyy 

The word not being in common use in Smith's time in England, 
nor indeed at any time, the effort will not be great to fancy that our 
Indian trader was a frequent reader of the poets. His prose, indeed, 
would go far to prove the fact. 



130 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

for Englande." With returning health and vigor, life in the 
forests of America, with so much game around them, was 
a long day of pleasure, and, so long as it lasted, no more 
discontents or vain repininus after the mother-land were 
to be apprehended. The riant spirit which now filled 
their bosoms was that of Jeshurun. Having waxed fat, 
they kicked. Smith's enterprises, which had saved them 
from perishing, did not now meet the general expectation. 
His associates in council reproached him with not having 
explored the Chickahominy to its sources. This river, it 
was absurdly fancied, would conduct them into the South 
sea, then the great object of European discovery. It was 
in vain that he urged the greater importance to their pre- 
sent objects and necessities of laying in the winter supplies 
of maize when it could be procured from the Indians, and 
before the improvident savages became conscious of any 
scarcity. The river could always wait. He was told 
that he was slow. He might have answered — '^ I am 
sure ; and always fast enough for the necessity." But 
contenting himself with declaring the motives by which 
he had been governed, in forbearing the contemplated 
exploration — and with which we are perfectly satisfied — 
he chose the most effectual mode of silencing the murmurs 
of the council, by withdrawing himself from sight, and by 
going upon the proposed expedition. 

The winter of 1607, remarkable for an extraordinary 
frost in Europe, was extremely cold in Virginia ; but no 
seasons seemed to discourage the enterprise of our hero. 
He penetrated the Chickahominy for fifty miles in his 
barge, cutting his way through trees where they had fallen 
across the stream, and pressing on, from point to point, 
with all the dilioence and address which marked his char- 
acter. At length, the shoals becoming such as to endan- 
ger his vessel, he procured a canoe frOm the Indians, two 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 131 

of whom were engaged as oarsmen. Having put the 
barge in security, and given express charge to his men not 
to go ashore, he took with him two of his people, and 
with the two Indians continued his further voyage in the 
canoe. 

At this place in his narrative Smith deems it necessary 
to apologize for the extreme risk which he incurred by 
this proceeding. " Though some wise men," he remarks, 
" may condemn this too bould attempt of too much indis- 
cretion, yet if they will consider the friendship of the 
Indians in conducting me, the desolateness of the country, 
the probabilitie of some lucke, and the malicious judges 
of my actions at home — as also to have some matters of 
worth to encourage our adventurers in England — might 
well have caused any honest minde to have done the 
like, as well for his own discharge, as for the public good." 

These, we may remark, are the suggestions of a very 
noble mind. It is the probable " lucke" of the colony 
that moves him to risk his life, and the anxiety to '^ en- 
courage other colonists from England ;" — even the errors 
of judgment, which we find in this apology, are proofs of 
a high and generous spirit, superior to the exactions of a 
petty self. He confides in the friendship of the Indians, 
which the cowardly and jealous nature will seldom do ; 
and he has " malicious judges at home," whom he would 
silence and disarm for ever by deeds of courage, which not 
one of them has the soul to emulate. If the argument of 
Smith does not wholly prove the correctness of his policy, 
it proves his own worth and manliness of character — his 
courage, and the honesty of his ambition. He thinks that 
his motives might well cause any " honest minde to have 
done the like." So they might; but " honesty," Cap- 
tain, is scarcely the sufficient word in this connection ! 
Let it remain, however, as it is written. 



132 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

Smith had learned many admirable lessons in foreign 
warfare, but he was yet to learn the subtlety of those 
tribes whose forests he had begun to subdue. The proba- 
bility is, that every footstep which he took from the 
mouth of the Chickahominy was noted by the spies of 
Powhatan. Whether the two Indians who rowed his boat 
were faithful to him is quite questionable. He himself 
was without suspicion, as he was without fear. He 
ascended the river in the canoe some twenty miles above 
the spot where his barge was anchored. Here, as the 
river was cumbered with trees and foliage, though still 
keeping sufficient depth for his progress, he left the canoe 
in the charge of the two Englishmen and one of the In- 
dians. The other he took with him, and went ashore " to 
see the nature of the soil," and to head or cross the tribu- 
tary branches of the stream. On leaving the canoe, he 
instructed his followers to keep their matches alight, and 
to discharge a piece at the first appearance of danger. 
With these precautions, deeming himself tolerably secure, 
he passed with his guide into the forests. 

A quarter of an hour had not elapsed, after his leaving 
the canoe, when he was startled by the war-whoop of 
the savage. No warning matchlock apprised him of the 
proximity of any enemy, and believing that the two whom 
he had left with the canoe had been betrayed and mur- 
dered by his Indian guide, with the prompt decision of 
hi-s character, he at once grappled with the Indian, his 
companion. The stern resolution of our adventurer, with 
the suddenness of his movement, disarmed the savage and 
subdued his spirit; and Smith, with his garters, bound the 
arm of the savage tightly to one of his own ; thus prepar- 
ing to use him as a buckler. He had scarcely taken this 
precaution, when he felt himself struck with an arrow 
upon the thigh. This shaft did no hurt, being discharged 



V; 




LIFE OP CAPTAIN SMITH. 1S3 

from a respectful distance ; but a moment after the vigi- 
lant eyes of our hero discovered two other Indians about to 
draw their bows upon him. He anticipated them by a 
discharge of his pistol, the effects of which they already 
knew. This sent them flying for a while, and enal)led 
him to reload his weapon. But they soon returned to the 
conflict, and Smith, retreating with his face toward them, 
and his fettered Indian — who proved quite submissive — 
still as a buckler between their darts and his bosom, slowly 
aimed to make his way backward to the canoe. But the 
sudden appearance upon the ground, of Opechancanough, 
one of their greatest chiefs, at the head of more than two 
hundred warriors, soon lessened, if it did not utterly de- 
stroy his hopes. But Smith was not to be subdued. He 
knew too much of the barbarian nature to exhibit any 
apprehensions ; and, steadily continuing to retire, answered 
some twenty or thirty of their arrows with four or five pis- 
tol-shots. To approach him closely while possessed of 
these formidable weapons was no part of the Indian policy, 
and to do him much hurt at a distance, while he so adroit- 
ly interposed their comrade between him and their shafts, 
was soon discovered to be no easy matter. A conference 
took place between the parties. Smith was told that his 
two followers were slain, but that his life would be spared 
if he would yield himself. But he must have better terms 
than this. He must be permitted to retire in safety to the 
boat. He will not deliver up his arms. He will use 
them, and shoot with them famously, though his Indian 
buckler-man importunes him not to do so. This confer- 
ence was carried on with less formal state than is custom- 
ary on such occasions, as well in barbarous as in Christian 
countries. It was a sort of running: conference — a running: 
fight at the same time ; Smith backing regularly as he 
argued, and drawing his tethered Indian along with him, 
12 



134 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

very awkwardly placed, no doubt, between two fires, and 
anxious to get away ; Opechancanough pressing upon him 
within treating and fighting distance, unwilling to provoke 
the pistol, but resolved that the Captain shall not get away. 
It is diflScult to say how long this curious sort of strife 
could have been maintained, and what would have been 
its final issue, had not a mishap befallen our adventurer, 
against which he had made no provision, Retreating still, 
with face averted from the path which he treads, he walks 
suddenly into a morass, into which he drags perforce his 
unwilling companion. This morass alone had protected 
him from assault in the rear. But he was too busy with 
his foes in front to think of any other danger, and, up to 
his waist in bog,he cannot extricate himself without assist- 
ance. The hope of escape is at an end. He flings away 
his pistols, and makes signs of submission ; and he who 
has tasted of the perils of Turkish bondage will now 
have an opportunity of comparing it with that of the 
Apalachian. 



CHAPTER V. 

The misfortune of Smith seems to have been due entirely 
to the misconduct of his followers, whom he had left be- 
hind him in the canoe and barge. Had they not in both 
cases disobeyed his orders, neither they nor himself would 
have suffered harm. But, scarcely had he gone from 
sight, when the people in the barge determined to enjoy 
their freedom on the land. They, too, in all probability, 
had some vague notions of coming upon the great river 
leading from the northeast into the South Sea — the vain 
desire, built upon gross ignorance, which possessed many 
of the adventurers in that age ; or, seeing at a distance 
some headland of shining earth, they had brighter fancies 
of gold and silver ore to be gathered by the bucket. With 
vague appetites like these, or possibly only with the boy- 
ish desire to run and leap among the seemingly quiet 
woods, they drew nigh to the shore in their barge, and 
leaving her to the care of fortune, straggled off into the 
forests. They had not gone far, when they were surpris- 
ed by Opechancanough, with three hundred warriors. 
They succeeded in escaping to the barge, and in saving 
her, though not without great difficulty. One of their 
number, George Cassen, fell into the hands of the savages, 
and was made to suffer the miserable penalty of death for 
all the rest. In the hope to save his life, the captive 
revealed the secret of Smith's progress into the interior. 
The secret obtained, the poor wretch was despatched by 
the most cruel tortures — dismembered limb by limb, and 
cast into the fire. After this, Opechancanough hurried 
upon the trail of our adventurer. The men left in the 



136 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

canoe were equally remiss of duty with those in the barge, 
but paid more heavily for their error. They, too, had 
left the vessel, had gone ashore, built a fire, and were shot 
to death while they slept before it. Every step which 
Smith had taken was then followed, until he fell into the 
bog, and into their hands. The treacherous morass which 
enmeshed him, seems to have been one of the numerous 
swamps from which the river takes its rise. He had, 
therefore, involuntarily pushed the exploring survey much 
more deeply than was at all needful in discovering its 
sources. But he had been no such easy victim as his 
besotted followers — three of them had he slain in the 
struggle, and " divers others had he gall'd." His skill 
and valor, while compelling their fears, commanded their 
respect and admiration. 

These he was careful not to forfeit. Drawn from the 
morass, cold and nearly frozen, he showed no signs of 
fear, and behaved with the most intrepid spirit. Brought 
before Opechancanough, he presented him with the pocket- 
compass with, which he travelled, and showed him the 
uses of the instrument. Great was the marvel at the 
play of the needle, which he could see through the glass, 
but never touch ; and when Smith proceeded to explain 
to him, by mingled sign and speech, its wonderful pro- 
perties — how it would follow sun, moon, and stars, — indi- 
cate his route on earth, and guide him to realms, and con- 
tinents, and seas, of which our savages now heard for the 
first time, they were struck with amazement and silent 
wonder. This toy amused them for an hour, and when 
it ceased to do so, they fastened the captive to a tree, 
grouped themselves around him, and placing each an arrow 
on his bow, they prepared to shoot him. It is probable 
this was only an experiment upon his courage. He was 
a Captain — a Werowance or Chief — of whom much curi- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 137 

osity was entertained, and from whom much ransom might 
be expected. At a signal from their king, their weapons 
were dropped, and leading him to the fire — where he be- 
held the body of one of his men, Thomas Emry, stuck full 
of arrows — they suffered him to warm himself, chafed his 
limbs, which were nearly frozen, gave him food, and treat- 
ed him with kindness. He had occasion to remark, that 
though they fed him bountifully, not one of them would 
eat with him; — a forbearance which reminds us of the 
reluctance of the Arabs and other Eastern nations to par- 
take of food with those to whom they intend evil. 

He was reserved to grace the triumph of Opechanca- 
nough. This sagacious savage was the King or Chief of 
Pamunkee — is styled one of the brethren of Powhatan ; 
but subsequent narratives — for he made a figure in after 
events not less distinguished than that of Powhatan — repre- 
sent him not to have been considered by the Indians a rela- 
tive of Powhatan in any degree. Indeed, they describe 
him as being a foreigner, the Prince of a distant peoj^le in 
the southwest, who was adopted into the nation ; probably 
having been taken from his own while yet in his infancy.* 
He was a man of large stature, of noble presence and 
extraordinary parts, and a dignity of thought and carriage 
which might honor the highest places of Christian civili- 
sation. His treatment of Smith while his captive, making 
due allowance for his own wild training, was creditable to 
his delicacy and humanity. That his captive should min- 
ister to his triumph, was due to the customs of his coun- 
try ; and the practice does not seem to have discredited 
any of the Roman conquerors. It has policy for its justi- 

* See Beverley, Hist. Va., 51, 52; and Burke (Hist. Va.), vol. iii., 
pages 57-8-9, for an interesting account of the capture of this chief- 
tain, under the English colonial administration of Sir W. Berkeley, 
and of his brutal assassination while in captivity. 

12* 



138 LIFE OF CAP IAIN SMIl'H. 

fication, and infuses courage into a people, and strengthens 
and confirms their patriotism. 

The procession which conducted Smith through the 
Indian towns, was one of rude state and ceremonial. He 
himself was guarded on either side by a sturdy savage, 
who kept fast hold upon his wrist. Opechancanough 
moved midway in the column, and the guns, swords, and 
pistols, which had been taken, were borne before him. 
Their approach to a settlement or hamlet was distinguish- 
ed by the wild songs and dances of the warriors, — their 
yells of death and victory first bringing out the women 
and children to behold their spectacle of triumph. 

His first resting place in this humiliating progress was 
at Orapakes,. where he. was taken to a house and closely 
guarded by eight warriors. Here he was so well fed, 
with venison, and other food, that he began to be troubled 
with misgivings that their purpose was to fatten him for 
the table. To go to a feast, not to eat but to be eaten, 
was an event in prospect, not more agreeable to Smith 
than to Polonius. But this fear was only momentary, 
and proved to have been groundless. It does not appear 
anywhere that the North American savage was a cannibal. 
At Orapakes one of the Indians to whom Smith had made 
some small present when he first came to Virginia, re- 
membered the gift with gratitude, and brought him his 
gown, which he seems to have discarded when first assail- 
ed by his captors. The gift was a grateful one, as the 
weather was intensely cold, and his condition was one to 
demand every possible consolation. 

Some delay was made at Orapakes. It was one of the 
favorite residences of Powhatan, and here it may have 
been expected to meet him. It is probable that his captors 
waited here for instructions from their emperor. This 
detention increased the intimacy between Smith and the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 139 

savages, of which he contrived to avail himself in getting 
a letter to Jamestown. In this letter, which was written 
on the leaf of an old table-book, he wrote his wishes to 
the people at the fort ; described his condition exactly, 
instructed them to do all that they could to terrify the 
messengers, who were in fact spies, and upon whose re- 
port would depend their decision whether to assault the 
fort or not — a measure greatly urged by the King of Pas- 
pahegh ; who sagaciously insisted upon the moment the 
great werovmnce of the whites was in their power, and his 
people in consternation, as being particularly suited to the 
attempt. The letter also counselled certain things to be 
sent him, of which an inventory was given. His messen- 
gers — three in number — took the letter in weather so bit- 
ter and cold, with frost and snow, '^ as in reason were im- 
possible by any naked man to be endured." 

But they returned in three days, having faithfully exe- 
cuted their commission. The reports which they brought 
of the terrors by which the fort was environed, confirm- 
ing the dreadful accounts of mines, great guns, and engines 
of such dread, that no proper names for them could be 
found, determined them to forego the attempt upon the 
colony ; and then it was that the triumphal progress was 
resumed. But before this could take place, and, indeed, 
before Smith's dispatches had been written, an incident 
occurred which had nearly rendered unnecessary any 
further negotiation. 

It appears that, soon after he had reached his present 
resting-place, he was summoned to the assistance of one 
of the men whom he had wounded with his pistols. 
Looked upon as a conqueror — as a great medicine^ at least 
— it was taken for granted that he could heal as well as 
hurt ; and nothing seemed to them more natural and pro- 
per, than that he should do so where he himself had inflict- 



140 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

ed the injury. But Smith found the wounded man in the 
last extremity, and declared frankly he could do nothing 
for him. Something, he said, might be done, could he 
procure a certain medicine which he had at Jamestown ; 
and a requisition for this medicine was actually made in 
the letter which was sent. But the savage dying soon 
after, his father set upon our adventurer to revenge his 
death ; and would have slain him with his sword, but for 
the timely interposition of the guard. Baffled in this way, 
he endeavored to effect his object by shooting at him in 
his prison, but was again arrested in his designs before any 
injury had been done. So intense was this wild passion 
of revenge, which the practice among the savages made 
justifiable, that, to defeat the purposes of his fury, they 
were compelled to remove the object of his pursuit and 
hate to other places of security. This, indeed, is given as 
one of the reasons for resuming the triumphal progress. 

The route of the procession was a circuitous one. The 
real object seems to have been to gratify the curiosity of 
as many townships as possible ; and possibly the vanity 
of his captors, before taking him to Werowomoco, where 
Powhatan at this time resided. First, they carried him 
among the people who dwelt on the Youghtanund, or 
Pamunkee river. From the Youghtanund they led him 
to the Mattaponies, the Piankatanks, the Nantaughtacunds, 
or the Rappahannock, and the Nominies, on the Potomac 
river. These rivers being passed, they showed him to 
numerous other tribes, with names equally barbarous. He 
was then brought back to the habitation of Opechanca- 
nough, at Pamunkee, where a wild and singular species 
of incantation was destined to take place ; the object of 
which is stated to be to ascertain by magical orgies what 
had been and were his real purposes towards them. In 
other words, the priests and conjurors of the nation were 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 141 

disposed to show themselves necessary to its safety, and 
to avail themselves of a novel circumstance to strengthen 
those vulgar superstitions by which they lived. For three 
days they conjured him by the rudest sort of ceremonials^ 
Smeared with oil and paint, begrimed with black and red, 
garbed in the skins of wild beasts, and shaking their gourd- 
rattles over head, they danced around him, with shrieks 
and bowlings, from the rising to the setting ot the sun ; — 
then fed themselves and him, for neither had been suffered 
to partake of food while the day lasted ; but they took 
especial care not to eat with him — a circumstance which 
still serves to keep up in our hero's mind a lively anxiety 
with regard to their cannibal appetites. Three days were 
thus spent in these and similar orgies ; the details of which 
could not enlighten, and would scarcely please the reader. 
These over, he was removed to the dwelling of Opitcha- 
pam,* the brother of Powhatan, who afterwards succeed- 
ed to the empire. Here he was still well treated, that is, 
well fed ; his imagination, as he tells us in doggerel verse 
— in which he not unfrequently deals — conjuring up 
" hydeous dreames," in his waking moments, of " won- 
drous shapes," " strange bodies," '' huge of growth," 

"And of stupendous makes ;" 

the effects probably of over feeding, an inactive condition 
of body, and a mind full of active apprehensions. But his 
spirits do not fail him, nor his courage. His aspect is 
still such as to command the respect of the savages. 
They seek to persuade and to intimidate him. They offer 
him ^' life, liberty, land, and women," if he will only show 
them how to get possession of the fort at Jamestown. 
They exult in the possession of a bag of gunpowder, the 
qualities of which they know ; and which, regarding it as 

* Beverley calls him Itopatin. 



142 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

a seed, they proposed to sow, in hope of future crops, by 
which to retort the explosive missiles of the pale-faces. 
Smith loses no opportunity to impress them with a sense 
of the superiority of the whites ; of their wondrous re- 
sources, and unmentionable powers. He does not unde- 
ceive them with regard to the gunpowder, and we may 
suppose that they sow the crop at the due season in 
spring. He is equal to all their arts. They bring him 
one of his pistols, requiring him to discharge it, in order, as 
he perceives, that they may learn its use. But his subtlety 
equals theirs. He adroitly breaks the cock of the weapon, 
which he succeeds in persuading them is accidentally 
done. They can make nothing of him, and he, if he 
makes nothing of them, at all events maintains his man- 
hood in their eyes, and assumes the guise of cheerfulness, 
though grief sits heavy at his heart. At length, after a 
long delay, which was probably not without its object, 
the captive is conducted to Werowocomoco,* the resi- 
dence of Powhatan, and into the presence of that despotic 
chieftain. 



* Called Meronocomoco in the " Discoveries and Accidents," vol. 
i., c. ii., p. 162, of the octavo edition printed at Richmond, Va. 



CHAPTER VI. 

We have now reached a period in the career of our hero, 
the events of which are much more intimately associated 
with his memory in the minds of men than those of any 
other in the whole of his long eventful history. Though 
not more remarkable, perhaps, than many others — not 
more imposing or impressive than his three single combats 
with the Turkish champions before Regall — than his cap- 
tivity and escape from the bondage of the Bashaw of 
Bogall, bearing with him the blood of that cruel despot, 
and the tender affections of his gentle sister — ^yet there is 
something in the first appearance of the sweet forest dam- 
sel, Pocahontas, upon the scene in which Smith is the 
hero, and nearly the victim, which commends this part of 
his story, more than any other, to the sympathies and 
remembrances of our people. It is as the prisoner of Pow- 
hatan, the great Indian Emperor of Virginia — as the cap- 
tive doomed to perish in the hands of savages by a sudden 
and a cruel death, and rescued at the last moment by the 
unexpected interposition of the young and tender-hearted 
child of the fierce old monarch — that our hero fixes the 
attention of the hearer when his name is but mentioned. 
We have reached that point in his career upon which the 
eye inevitably fastens, heedless of every other, when he 
becomes the subject ; — that exquisite episode in the his- 
tory of the new world, which, appealing equally to the 
affections and the imagination, has never lost the charm 
of its original loveliness and freshness, even though a 
thousand iterations have made it the most familiar of all 



144 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

our forest stories. It is one of those tales which combine 
several elements of the tender and the tragic — like that of 
the Grecian daughter — like that of the Roman Virginius ; 
more certainly true than either of these legends, and not 
less touching and beautiful ; which, partaking of similar 
sources of interest, and appealing equally to the deepest 
sources of feeling in the heart, the mind treasures up 
naturally and without an effort, as a chronicle equally dear 
to its virgin fancies and its sweetest sensibilities. 

From the moment that Smith became the prisoner of 
the savages of Opechancanough, he had every reason to 
fear the w^orst. Threatened with assassination by his 
personal foes, even against the will of those who had him 
in captivity, there were yet other ominous circumstances 
which, as he well knew the practices among the Indians, 
furnished sufficient reason for his fears. They fed him, and 
refused to eat with him ; and he was borne about on a sort 
of triumphal progress, as a sort of show, from town to 
town, in order, as it would seem, to the gratification of 
all eyes, before he should be finally conducted to the 
stake. The object on every hand of a peculiar curiosity, 
the condition of our captive was sufficiently humiliating. 
Brought at length to Werowocomoco, which lay on the 
north side of Fork river, in Gloucester County, and seems 
to have been the royal residence for the time, his mind 
appears somewhat to have yielded to his fatigues, his pri- 
vations, and not improbably his fears. He conjured up 
the worst phantoms for his torment ; and some of the 
images that oppressed his imagination may have grown 
out of the grim and hideous aspects by which he was 
constantly surrounded. Brought to the residence of Pow- 
hatan, he was not immediately conducted into the presence 
of the Emperor, but remained at some distance in the 
forest, in order, as it would seem, that sufficient opportu- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 145 

nity should be afforded the latter for making his prepara- 
tions for the reception. This, it appears, was to be an 
affair of great state and ceremonial. A barbarous sort of 
pomp had already distinguished his progress through the 
country, and his reception at the various towr>s and settle- 
ments. It was held necessary that the royal reception 
should far excel anything of the kind that had yet taken 
place. Kept in waiting, accordingly, our hero was con- 
stantly attended by crowds, who watched and wondered 
at his every movement. " Grim courtiers," Smith him- 
self styles them, more than two hundred in number, who 
stood gazing upon him " as he had beene a monster." 

At length the signal was received, and the captors and 
the captive were vouchsafed an audience. Powhatan had 
completed his preparations. Himself and suite were 
assembled. The interview seems to have taken place in 
the open air, among the great trees of the forest ; a plea- 
sant space in the woods, which, as we m«ay reasonably 
conjecture, was usually assigned for similar purposes — for 
the reception of ambassadors, a seat of judgment, and a 
place of fatal sacrifice together. Certainly there could 
not be a more royal saloon. Great pines sent up their 
gigantic pillars ; wide spreading oaks stretched their gnarl- 
ed and antling branches overhead ; and through the um- 
brageous masses the blue canopy of the sky was visible 
and hanging over all. Conspicuous in this area, sate, or 
rather reclined, the Indian Emperor. His seat of state 
was a sort of bedstead, raised about a foot above the 
ground, upon which he might either sit or recline at plea- 
sure. Some ten or a dozen mats formed the covering of 
this rude seat, immediately in front of which a great fire 
was kept blazing. Upon this couch or throne, half lying, 
in something like Oriental state, the form of Powhatan 
was seen between the persons of two young damsels, nei- 
13 



146 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

ther of whom was more than eighteen years of age. 
These were, in all probability, the favorites of our forest 
sultan. On either hand, and ranging behind this group, 
were the warriors and the women who formed the suite 
of the Emperor. These were sitting or standing in alter- 
nate rows, and were all apparelled in such ornaments as 
they could respectively command. Some had their heads 
decorated with the white down, and the plumage of native 
birds. Some wore strings of white beads upon their 
necks and bosoms. Others were otherwise adorned ; and 
all of them appeared with cheeks, brows and shoulders 
thickly painted with a brilliant red. But the chief, as the 
central figure of the group, was Powhatan himself; a man 
who needed not the foreign aid of ornament to render him 
conspicuous in any circle. This prince, at the period of 
which we write, was fully sixty years of age. But time 
had taken nothing from the intense fire in his eye, and in 
no respect subdued the erect energies of his ample stature. 
His aspect was severe and noble. His presence was ma- 
jestical. His bearing was that of one to whom sway 
was habitual, and the haughtiness of which seemed not 
unnatural or improper to one accustomed to frequent con- 
quest. " He wore," says Smith, " such a grave and 
majestical countenance, as drave me into admiration to see 
such state in a naked salvage." Yet Powhatan was no 
naked savage, and the rudeness of his state was by no 
means inconsistent with its dignity. The " rich chaynes 
of great pearles," which we are told encircled his neck, 
and the " great robe, made of rarowcun (racoon) skinnes," 
which covered his person — their tails all properly dis- 
posed and pendant — were no doubt worn with quite as 
much grace and majesty as the most costly habiliments of 
civilisation by the potentates of Christendom. Indeed, it 
is not often that the dignitaries of the civilized world — 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 147 

the creatures of a capricious art, and an unstable conven- 
tion — could compare in nobleness of bearing with the lords 
of the American forest, taught by nature herself, and with 
limbs rendered free and graceful in spontaneous movement, 
by the constant exercises of battle and the chase. It is 
certain, at least, from all accounts, that Powhatan needed 
quite as little of dress and decoration for the purposes of 
state as any hereditary prince in Europe. The face, the 
air, the carriage of the Emperor, seemed fully to justify 
the unlimited sway which he held over the affections of 
his people. Whatever might have been the deficiencies 
of our forest chieftain, it is very sure that the qualities of 
a noble bearing, lofty demeanor, calm grave intelligence 
of aspect, and free natural movements were not among 
them. His grace in the management of ceremonial shows 
him " to the manner born ;'' and, subsequently, speaking 
of him at another interview under less trying circumstances 
to himself, Smith describes him sitting " uppon a throne 
at the upper ende of the house, with such a majestic as I 
cannot expresse, nor yet have often scene, either in pagan 
or Christian ;" — a brief but complete description, to which 
farther details could give no efficiency. 

There was one person in this assembly whom yet w^e 
are not permitted to see. This is Pocahontas. That she 
was present we know from the conspicuous share which 
she took in the proceedings of the day. But no place has 
been assigned her at the opening of the scene by any of 
our narrators. It is very apparent that she was not seen 
by Smith until the moment when she rushed forward to 
his rescue ; and this exclusion may be easily accounted 
for. At this period Pocahontas was a child of ten years 
old. It has been the error to describe her as twelve or thir- 
teen. This is the statement in Stith, Burke, and other 
writers, but it is without authority. Others have con- 



148 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

founded her with one of the two young women who sate 
at the head and feet of Powhatan ; but Smith himself 
describes them as " young wenches, of 16 or 18 years," — 
a phraseology which he never employs where Pocahontas 
is concerned. In the narrative of Simons in Smith's his- 
tory, no allusion is given to her age. She is spoken of as 
the " King's dearest daughter," always respectfully and 
affectionately, but in no more definite manner. The de- 
ficiency is supplied, however, in the narrative entitled a 
" True Relation," &c.,^ purporting to be written by Th. 
Watson, Gent., but in reality by Smith himself. The 
internal proofs of this are quite conclusive, even if there 
were no other. In this narrative we have this descrip- 
tion : " Powhatan^ understanding we detained certain sal- 
vages, sent his daughter, a childe of tenne years old, which 
not only for feature, countenance and proportion, much ex- 
ceedeth any of the rest of his people, hut for wit and spirit 
the only nonpareil of his country, ^c^ That the girl here 
described was Pocahontas we know elsewhere from the 
narrative of Simons, who makes full mention of the mis- 
sion upon which she is sent, the particulars of which we 
shall reach hereafter. 

That a child of ten years old should not be conspicuous 



* " A true relation of such occurrences and accidents of noate as 
hath happened in Virginia since the first planting of that collony, 
which is now resident in the south part thereof, 'till the last returne 
from thence. Written by Th : Watson, Gent., one of said collony, to 
a worshipfull friend of his in England. London : Printed for John 
Tappe ; and are to be sold at the Grey-hound in Panic's Church- 
yard, by W. W. 1608." The copy before us is an excellent reprint, 
made by the publishers of the Southern Literary Messenger, and in 
connection with that excellent periodical. A preface to this pamph- 
let, signed L. H., and purporting to be written while Smith is still 
one of the council in Virginia, asserts him to be the author of it, and 
ascribes the alias to the blunder of a printer. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 149 

at such a scene as that to which Smith is conducted, is 
natural enough. She may have been concealed in one of 
the troops of damsels that stood behind or beside the 
couch of her father ; she might have been sitting, timidly 
crouching, on some low rock at his feet. That she was 
present, and destined to exercise a vital influence upon 
the events which were to follow, we already know. 

The appearance of the captive before the king was 
welcomed by a shout from all the people. This does not 
appear to have been an outbreak of exultation. On the 
contrary, the disposition seems to have been to treat the 
prisoner with becoming gravity and consideration. A 
handsome young woman, the Queen of Apamattuck, is 
commanded to bring him water, in which to wash his 
hands. Another stands by with a bunch of feathers, a 
substitute for the towel, with which he dries them. Food 
is then put before him, and he is instructed to eat, while 
a long consultation takes place between the Emperor and 
his chief warriors as to what shall be done with the cap- 
tive. In this question Smith is quite too deeply interest- 
ed to give himself entirely to the repast before him. He 
keeps up a stout heart and a manly countenance ; but, to 
employ some of the lines quoted by the quaint narrator 
whose statements he adopts, 

" Sure his heart was sad ; 

For who can pleasant be and rest, 
That Hves in feare and dread V 

The discussion results unfavorably. His judges decide 

against him. It is the policy of the savages to destroy 

him. He is their great enemy. He is the master spirit 

of the powerful and intrusive strangers. They have 

already discovered this. They have seen that by his will 

and energies, great courage and equal discretion, he has 

kept down the discontents, disarmed the rebellioi;s^ and 
13* 



150 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

strengthened the feeble among his brethren ; and they 
have sagacity enough to understand how much more easy 
it will be, in the absence of this one adventurous warrior, 
to overthrow and root out the white colony which he has 
planted. It is no brutal passion for blood and murder 
which prompts their resolution. It is a simple and clear 
policy, such as has distinguished the decision in like cases 
of far more civilized, and even Christian communities ; — 
and the award of the council of Powhatan is instant death 
to the prisoner. He is soon apprised of their decision by 
their proceedings. Two great stones are brought into the 
assembly, and laid before the king. ^' Then as many as 
could lay hands on him, dragged him to them, and thereon 
layd his head." " Being ready with their clubs to beate 
out his braines," it was then that " Pocahontas, the King's 
dearest daughter," interposed for his safety. It seems 
that she first strove to move her father by entreaties, but 
finding these of no avail, she darted to the place of exe- 
cution, and before she could be prevented, got the head of 
the captive in her arms, and laying her own upon it, in 
this way arrested the stroke of the executioner. And this 
was the action of a child ten years old ! We may imagine 
the exquisite beauty of such a spectacle — the infantine 
grace, the feminine tenderness, the childish eagerness, 
mingled with uncertainty and fear, with which she main- 
tained her hold upon the object of her concern and solici- 
tude, until the w ild and violent passion of her father had 
been appeased. This is all that comes to us of the 
strange, but exquisite dramatic spectacle. Few details 
are given us. The original narrators from whom we draw 
are cold and lifeless in their statements. Smith himself 
says little on the subject ; and in the narrative already 
quoted — that of Watson — especially known as his, it is 
curious to note that the whole event is omitted, not even 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 151 

the slightest allusion being made to Pocahontas. But it 
is not denied that we may conceive for ourselves the 
beauty and the terror of this highly tragic scene. Imagi- 
nation may depict the event in her most glowing colors. 
The poet and the painter will make it their own. They 
will show us the sweet child of the forest clasping beneath 
her arm the head of the pale warrior, while the stroke of 
death, impending over botjh, aw^aits but the nod of the 
mighty chieftain, whose will is law in all that savage 
region. They will show us first the rage and fury which 
fill his eyes as he finds himself bafiled by his child, and 
then the softening indulgence with which he regards that 
pleading sweetness in her glance which has always had 
such power over his soul. " She was the King's dearest 
daughter :" — this is the language of the unaffected and 
simple chroniclers, and her entreaty prevails for the safety 
of the prisoner. Her embrace seems to have consecrated 
from harm the head of the strange intruder. The policy 
of her nation, their passion for revenge and blood, all yield 
to the potent humanity which speaks in the heart of that 
unbaptized daughter of the forest, and the prisoner is freed 
from his bonds and given to the damsel who has saved 
him. Henceforth he is her captive. That is the decree 
of Powhatan. He shall be spared to make her bells and 
her beads, and to weave, into proper form, her ornaments 
of copper. 



CHAPTER VIL 

The effect of this timely interposition of Pocahontas was 
n.ot limited to the mere saving of our hero's life. The 
results were highly advantageous in other respects to the 
colony of the English. It secured for it the tolerance of 
the Emperor, while it gained for Smith himself the special 
favor and friendship of the savage. In all probability the 
superstitious, not less than the human feelings of Pow- 
hatan, were touched by the unlooked for interference of 
his daughter in the bloody scene which he was preparing 
to enact. Such a boldness at the perilous and precious 
moment, in a child so young, might well awaken, even in 
more sophisticated natures, an impression that the act was 
of providential inspiration — the work of a superior agency. 
At all events, the benefits were soon apparent. Smith 
was not only spared, but taken into immediate favor. The 
Emperor assured him of his friendship, professed to regard 
him as his own son, and promised him his liberty in a few 
days. But these favors were coupled with conditions. 
Powhatan was ambitious of being the possessor of certain 
of the great guns, of whose terrible powers vague accounts 
had already reached his ears. The uses of a grindstone 
were also known to him, and one of these was an object 
of his desire. To obtain these chattels, he promised his 
captive the entire countr}'^ of Capahosick ; a territory the 
limits of which it would perhaps be somewhat difficult at 
this day to define. 

Smith was somewhat cheered by these assurances, and 
this display of kindness ; but he put little faith in the sin- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 153 

cerity of the savage monarch. He was conscious himself 
of a certain degree of practice in his own assurances, and 
felt but little confidence, accordingly, in what was told 
him. Their conferences together were very frequent, and 
on the best footing of amity. What had been told of our 
hero to Powhatan had evidently impressed him greatly 
with his ability and courage. All that he had previously 
related to Opechancanough was now to be repeated ; and 
a thousand questions were asked with regard to the com- 
ing and objects of the English, which it required all the 
prudence and subtlety of Smith to answer, without endan- 
gering the friendly relations between the parties. It need 
not be said that our adventurer made no scruple of sup- 
pressing the truth where it served his purpose to do so. 
He had discovered that the Indians of Powhatan had suf- 
fered some injuries from Spanish vessels, and he framed 
his own story to suit the prejudices of his hearer. His 
people had been overpowered in a fight with the Spaniards, 
their enemies, and had sought shelter in the Chesapeake. 
The story was plausible, and the enmity of both to the 
Spaniards was the source of a new tie between them. 
But his exploring voyage in a canoe to the heads of the 
rivers of the country, suggested a new doubt to Powhatan, 
and new difficulties to his captive. But to his questions 
on this head the ready invention of Smith found a prompt 
answer. A brother had been slain by a people living in 
the rear of the territories of Powhatan, who were suppos- 
ed to be the Monacans, his enemies also. The murder 
of this youth it was his business to revenge. These mo- 
tives our savage found very good and justifiable, and led 
Powhatan into a description of his territories and those of 
his neighbors ; how they lay, and how they were water- 
ed ; what was the number, and what were the habits of 
the Anchawachucks — whom he assumed to be those by 



i54 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

whom Smith's brother had been slain — and the "Pocoush- 
tronacks, a fierce nation, who did eate men." Some of 
these people were described as carrying " swords like 
poUaxes," and wearing long hair on the neck, though their 
crowns were shaven. Beyond the territories of these, 
Powhatan described yet other tribes, some of whom wore 
short coats, with sleeves to the elbows, and travelled the 
seas in ships like those of the English. He had other 
tales of yet other kingdoms and people — vague outlines 
which, when we consider the imperfect modes among the 
savages of estimating time and distance, it would be quite 
unprofitable to examine or review. Smith, however, 
drank in his statements with attentive ears. A mighty 
river was described by Powhatan, having numerous king- 
doms on its banks, which might be the Mississippi ; the 
imperfect knowledge of the languages of the parties ren- 
dering doubtful between them, even matters the most 
precise and natural. A clothed people, cities of walled 
houses, a people having abundance of brass — or gold ; 
these were the wonders which the Indian Emperor related 
to his European companion, expatiating upon his own and 
the prowess of his tributaries and rivals. Smith was not 
to be outdone in wonders. In requital for the geography 
and history of Apalachia, he bestowed upon Powhatan a 
comprehensive account of all the wonders of Europe ; — 
the multitude of ships and cities — the thunders of their 
wars — the glories of their martial array — and the ear- 
piercing character of drums and trumpets. Our sagacious 
adventurer knew well in what manner to awaken the 
admiration, and compel the respect of the dusky chieftain. 
He took care to impress him with the military powers in 
the possession of Captain Newport, who was daily expect- 
ed with supplies from England ; and whom, adopting an 
Indian title, the better to be understood, he called the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 155 

Werowance, or Prince, of all the waters of the sea. By 
this timely suggestion he made it easy sailing for Newport 
in after days. 

These mutual communications greatly increased the inti- 
macy between the parties, though Smith does not seem 
to have foregone his doubts of the good faith of Powha- 
tan, until he was fairly beyond his power. His detention 
lasted but a few days, which were naturally demanded by 
the curiosity of the Indian monarch, and his people. In- 
deed, less time could scarcely have been yielded to the 
immense amount of diplomacy which was required be- 
tween them. So greatly did Powhatan come to admire 
his European acquaintance in the sequel, that he desired 
him to forsake the country of Paspahegh, where he had 
settled, and to come more closely into the immediate 
neighborhood of Werowocomocco. He promised that the 
English should lose nothing by it, but that he would supply 
them with all necessaries — with corn, venison, and all man- 
ner of food, and protect them against all enemies, for 
which he should demand nothing but their labor in finding 
him in hatchets, and working copper for him according to 
instructions. Smith gave him good words, and spoke 
him fairly but evasively. He promised him his great guns, 
and grindstones, as soon as he should get to Jamestown; 
and after being treated with a hospitality and kindness, 
which Smith acknowledges without reserve, he despatched 
him under the charge of twelve men* on his way to the 
colony. 



* " Twelve guides" according to the " Discoveries " and "Accidents." 
The " True Relation " says fmir, and with such detail that the sen- 
tence deserves to be given. " Having, with all the kindness hee 
could devise, sought to content me, he sent me home with 4 men, — 
one that usually carried my gowne and knapsack after me, two 
others loaded with bread, and one to accompany me." Both 



156 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

But the apprehensions of Snnith were not to be lulled 
into quiet, by all these shows of kindness, and one or more 
little circumstances, while on the journey, kept him in a 
state of lively apprehension. He still had his fears that 
he was to be eaten, and that this was the true secret of 
all their solicitude in feasting him. He was only to be 
fattened, and decorated, like a lamb for the slaughter. 
The distance, in a direct route, from Werowocomocco to 
Jamestown, was only twelve miles, yet nothing could 
persuade his guides to advance properly forward. "The 
Indians trifled away that day, and would not goe to our 
fort by any persuasions." The first night after leaving 
Powhatan, they " quartered in the woods," so we are 
told by one narrative ; another, more certainly his own, 
says, " in certain olde hunting houses of Paspahegh, we 
lodged all night," " He still expecting (as he had done 
all this long time of his imprisonment) every houre to be 
put to one death or other, for all their feasting." But 
his apprehensions proved groundless. " Almighty God 
(by his divine providence) had mollified the hearts of 
those sterne barbarians with compassion." They neither 
killed nor eat him ; but, whatever might have been their 
motive for the unnecessary delay, " the nexte morning, 
ere sunrise, we set forward for our fort, where we arrived 
within an hour." 

Here Smith found himself welcomed on every hand 
with the truest shows of friendship and satisfaction. He 



narratives may be correct ; other Indians may have joined them en 
route ; and when we recollect that grindstones, and great guns, were 
to be carried back by the savages, twelve of them will not be deemed 
an excessive number for the escort. One would think too, that two 
men to carry the bread alone, would be a rather large proportion to 
the number which it was to feed, if these were limited to fcnir. The 
point, however, is of no great importance. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 157 

was greeted as one from the dead ; it was as if the grave 
had given up its prey ; and in his absence, and s«upposed 
loss, the colonists, perhaps for the first time, began to 
feel how necessary he had been to their safety, and the 
success of the settlement. Things had gone ill during his 
absence, and there were some few exceptions to the al- 
most universal language of congratulation which hailed 
his return. Captain Archer, who had been sworn of the 
council, in his place, and while he was supposed to have 
perished, was by no means glad to see him ; and there 
were some two or three of his creatures, who suffered him 
to see that he was much less likely to offend them while 
he remained with the Indians, than when he came to thwart 
their progress in the infant settlement. His return was ex- 
ceedingly opportune. He found a large party of discon- 
tents preparing once more to run away with the pinnace, 
and to break up the colony. Their plans were laid, and 
the appointed hour had arrived, and all was baffled again by 
his providential coming. He soon fathomed their schemes, 
and being rightly advised, with the soldier-like decision 
that distinguished all his actions, he put the fort and his 
chosen men in order, so that the mutineers could only suc- 
ceed in the teeth of " sackre, falcon and musket shot," in 
getting off with the pinnace. " For the third time," at "the 
hazzard of his life," Smith " forced them to stay, or 
sinke." 

Finding that they must submit, and that nothing could 
be effected with such a '• master of fence " at his own wea- 
pons, they had recourse to subtleties, under the nam-e of 
law, for the better overthrow of their arch enemy. Hav- 
ing laid their own heads together, and so confounded that 
of the President, Captain Martin, as for the time to get his 
sanction to their proceedings, they charged upon Smith 
the death of the two men. Emry and Robinson, who had 
14 



158 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

been slain by the Indians, at the time of his capture. 
The Levitical law was applied to the case of our adven- 
turer, and, urging that it was by his fault or practice that 
they had come by their death, they required that his life 
should atone for his crime or error. The two persons, for 
whose lives he was thus required to answer, had fallen 
victims to their own imprudence, and the neglect of Smith's 
especial orders. Upon this charge, so very absurd, they 
built their hopes to take his life, or at all events to depose 
him from his sway in the colony, and his seat at the coun- 
cil. But Smith was too much of a man and soldier to be 
caught, and thrown upon his back, by such flimsy subtle- 
ties as this. He quickly took such order with these crude 
colony lawyers, that he laid them by the heels, and had 
them very soon as prisoners on the high road to England, 
The timely arrival of Captain Newport enabled him more 
effectually to triumph over his enemies. Newport saw 
through their malice, and his support and sympathy served 
for a time to silence and to subdue all disaffection to that 
authority which it was in the nature of such a man as 
Smith to exercise, in every situation of difficulty and dis- 
tress. The want of food which ensued upon his absence 
from the colony, had given strength to the objects of the 
malcontents, none of whom seems to have possessed the 
ability, the courage, and the skill by which Smith had al- 
ways before succeeded in procuring the requisite supplies. 
His failure and captivity served completely to discourage 
their enterprise. His resolution, and determination to keep 
the discontents from leaving the colony, were assisted by the 
news he brought of the favor of Powhatan, and of the abun- 
dance of food which might be obtained from that savage 
chieftain, in this season of his good humor ; and his story 
of the rescue of his life by Pocahontas, " so revived their 
dead spirits," as to make almost all of them abandon their 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 159 

fears of famine. They saw in this alliance with the great- 
est potentate of the country, and in the affection which 
he and his daughter had conceived for their favorite lead- 
er, a guaranty against all the privations of the future ; 
and, as is usual with persons of such condition, were as 
easily persuaded to the extreme of hope and exultation, 
as, but a little while before, and with as slender reason, 
they had been hurried to the verge of despair and mutiny. 
" Now whether," writes John Smith, though his chapter 
is claimed to be the production of three others* besides 
himself, though his hand is clearly legible in every sen- 
tence ; " Now, whether it had beene better for Captaine 
Smith to have concluded with any of those severall pro- 
jects, to have abandoned the countrey, with some ten or 
twelve of them, who were called the better sort, and have 
left Mr. Hunt our Preacher, Master Anthony Gosiiell^ a 
most honest, worthy, and industrious Gentleman, Master 
Thomas Wotton^ and some 27 others of his countrymen, to 
the fury of the savages, famine, and all manner of mis- 
chiefes and inconveniences (for they were but fortie in all 
to keepe possession of this large countrey), or starve him- 
self with them for company, for want of lodging ; or for 
adventuring abroad to make them provision, or by his op- 
position to preserve the action, and save all their lives 
(here the four writers dwindle into the first person singu- 
lar), " I," here Smith speaks out for himself — '' I leave 
all honest men to consider," is the conclusion of the para- 
graph. Time has saved us the work of consideration. The 
results have justified the proceedings of our hero. We 
must not omit to notice his allusion here to the " ten or 
twelve" called "the better sort." Smith, from the be- 



* Written by Thomas Studley^ the first cape merchant in Virginia, 
Robert Fenton, Edward Harrington^ and I. S. (note to Chap. 2, 
Book 3, of the " Triue TraveU:' 



160 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

ginning, complains of the vast disproportion between the 
workingmen and the gentlemen sent to the colony. The 
passage which we have just quoted, is evidently meant as 
argumentative and justificatory, and intended to neutralize 
the opinions which the representations of these gentlemen 
in England might provoke at his expense. 

Smith did not suffer the commotions and strifes at 
Jamestown to make him forgetful of his Indian guides, 
and the promises he had made to Powhatan. Having 
fed and housed them well, endeavoring as well as he could 
to impress them equally with his magnificence and hospi- 
tality, he called them up on the morning after his return, 
and placed the great guns and the grindstones before 
them. The cannon proffered them were two demi-cul- 
verins. The weight of a grindstone, of ordinary size, may 
be imagined. It is needless to say that a single trial of 
Indian strength upon these formidable masses, soon put out 
of their heads entirely, the notion that they could be car- 
ried upon their shoulders ; and their reluctance to make 
the attempt was greatly increased, when stuffing the bow- 
els of his cannon with a decent load of powder and stones, 
Smith apphed the torch, and allowed them to hear the 
bellowing thunder, and see the wild lightning which is- 
sued from their jaws, And when they saw the effect 
among the trees of the forest, their great boughs loaded 
with icicles, torn away by the shot, and tumbling in all 
directions to the ground, the trusty followers of Powhatan 
took to their heels, half dead with fear. They could not 
be persuaded to burden themselves with gifts, as terrible 
as they were burdensome and weighty. But our adven- 
turer did not send them away with empty hands. He 
was not ungrateful to Powhatan, still less was he indiffer- 
ent to the sympathies of the sweet forest damsel to whose 
warm humanities he was indebted for his life. For her he 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 161 

felt a deep attachment, such, perhaps, as a father might 
feel for a dear child, as precious to him by reason of her 
own merits, as by blood. It is one of the vulgar errors of 
modern times that Pocahontas felt for Smith a different 
sort of attachment, and it is made his reproach, that he 
showed himself insensible to her love. This is mere igno- 
rance and absurdity. By his own showing she was but 
ten years old at this period, and he was near thirty. 
He speaks of her always as a child — as a dear child ; and it 
is evident he thought her so, and her language for him is 
that only of veneration. It is an erroneous notion of the 
requisites of the romantic, to demand that a warmer senti- 
ment than that of father and daughter should spring up 
between such parties. It is to this notion only, that we 
owe the charge of ingratitude which has been made 
against Smith, because of his supposed neglect of her af- 
fections. But of this hereafter. Enough that he sent away 
his Indian guides well satisfied with the commodities sub- 
stituted for the great guns and the grindstone. Nor does 
it anywhere appear that Powhatan was any whit less con- 
tented with what he received, than his messengers with 

what they bore. 
14* 



BOOK THIRD. 



CHAPTER I. 

The captivity of Smith among the people of Powhatan 
lasted for nearly seven weeks. Though painfully, this 
time was not unprofitably spent. Habitually a close 
observer, he gathered a very large amount of useful know- 
ledge from the Indians ; learned to comprehend their 
modes of thinking and feeling ; to trace their motives ; to 
analyze their arts ; and to fathom, with great sagacity, 
their general character. That he mistakes frequently, and 
misrepresents, is to be expected from his imperfect know- 
ledge of their language, and from the policy of the savage, 
who is cautious, circumspect, and peculiarly anxious to 
avoid examination. Smith finds them brave, capable of 
great endurance, a simple but a shrewd people, and cun- 
ning and treacherous, as all inferior people are apt to 
prove themselves when brought into contact with a supe- 
rior. If anything, he undervalues them, and withholds a 
proper acknowledgment of their virtues. He was quite 
too much the soldier of that period to escape the usual 
prejudices of the class, and cannot well be expected to 
think well of a race by whom he expects momently to be 
eaten — sacrificed to their hideous god, with an unpro- 
nounceable name, Quioughquosickee ; their Devil, as Dr. 
Simons writes, but most likely their god of physic. Set- 
ting forth with a notion very common at that time in the 



LIFEOF CAPTAIN SMITH 163 

European world, that the savages of the unknown regions 
are generally cannibals, he looks with a jaundiced eye, 
and with growing suspicion of their objects, even when 
they are practising the highest virtues of hospitality and 
society. It is because of prejudices such as these, that 
the mild European became himself so frequently a savage 
when he found himself in contact with the wild and wick- 
ed inhabitants of the western world. Smith despised the 
race because of their feebleness and unperformance ; and 
feared and hated them because of their supposed indul- 
gence in habits and practices, from which subsequent 
experience shows that they were perfectly free. But, in 
their power, he was sagacious enough to betray none of 
these prejudices or passions. He could play the politician, 
when it served his turn, as well as the soldier ; and the 
stroke of death once suspended by the interposition of 
Pocahontas, he puts forth all the cunning of his right hand, 
to maintain himself in the position of favor which he has 
so unexpectedly won. He flattered the pride of Pow- 
hatan, and conciliated the stranger chiefs around him. He 
was soon enabled to observe what were the distinguishing 
traits of the savage, and to ascertain in what respects they 
were peculiarly susceptible. To their vanity, which is 
strong in the Indian bosom, he made judicious appeals ; 
and, while flattering their self-esteem, he contrived very 
happily to impress them with admiration of his own won- 
derful resources. To make them feel and respect his 
importance, without subjecting their own vanity to morti- 
fication, might be a matter of some difficulty ; but, as his 
experience prove J, it was not an impossible one. 

To us, with our better knowledge of the Indians and 
the country than he could possibly have acquired then, 
his description of these objects can possess but little value. 
We refer to them now only to show how vigilant was his 



164 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

observation, and how generally extensive and correct. 
But the knowledge which he thus obtained was of vast 
service in his day, to the colony, and of very consi- 
derable interest in Europe, in correcting the erroneous 
impressions which were generally afloat in regard to the 
American aborigines. To the colony it came at an aus- 
picious juncture, as it occasioned renewed confidence in 
an enterprise which, in the treaty of amnesty and amity 
made with Powhatan, seemed to have received the last 
essential and desirable sanction. Nor did events for some 
time contradict the sanguine assurances of Smith, and the 
eager hopes of his people. The Indians seemed all of a 
sudden to have reformed the usual caprice of their charac- 
ter. The intimacy begun with Powhatan was kept alive 
by a frequent interchange of good offices between the par- 
ties ; and the young maiden, Pocahontas, with her attend- 
ants, made frequent visits to Jamestown, bringing with 
her such abundant supplies of provision, that hunger and 
the dread of starvation was no longer the object of terror 
among the doubting and the discontent. The visits of 
Pocahontas are described, at this period, as occurring 
every four or five days. Female, and childish, and sav- 
age curiosity were all no doubt combined in effecting this 
intimacy, and the provisions were, in all probability, only 
brought as a pretext for the visit. But other Indians 
came daily, all bringing something in the shape of food, 
either as gifts from Powhatan or Pocahontas, or as their 
own tribute to the superior genius of the man, who, to 
employ the language of one of the narratives before us, 
"had so inchanted these pooresoules being their prisoner."* 
The arrival of Captain Newport just about the time when 



* Chap, iii., iv. and v. of the " Discoveries and Accidents," ascrib- 
ed to Walter Russell, Anas Todkill, and Thomas Momford. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 165 

Smith had assured them he would come, increased their 
confidence in his wonderful superiority ; and, regarding 
him as an oracle, he brought them to such a degree of 
submission that " he might command them at what he 
listed ;" and in this deference they came habitually k> 
acknowledge the God of the Christians, whom they spoke 
of commonly as the "God of Captaine Smith." To Smith, 
indeed, and to him only, all their reverence was shown. 
It was not until he made his appearance that they could 
be persuaded to approach the fort ; but in the cover of 
the woods they remained, calling him by name, and com- 
ing forward as soon as he showed hin^.self at the entrance. 
Nothing would they sell till they had placed all that they 
had at his discretion. He affixed the prices to their com- 
modities, and with these they always seemed very well 
satisfied. This attachment, so confiding and extreme, on 
the part of those who had always shown themselves so 
jealous and suspicious in their intercourse with strangers, 
became a new subject of annoyance to the vain men, the 
malcontents within the fort, by whom the abilities of 
Smith were always decried, and his power so frequently 
resisted. His estimation among the savages was a sub- 
ject of envy among his Christian brethren in council, 
some of whom were at the pains to labor diligently in 
the endeavor to dispossess the Indians of their overween- 
ing: attachment for their associate. In this labor of love 
their objects were promoted greatly by the looseness and 
indulgence which followed upon the arrival of Newport's 
vessels. New faces from the mother country, with the 
fresh supplies which they brought, occasioned such gene- 
ral gratification, that the mariners were suflfered the free- 
dom of the settlement. They soon ruined the market 
with the Indians. Smith had prudently rated the wares 
of the English at the values set upon them by the Indians 



166 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

themselves ; the desires of the purchaser constituting 
the standard by which the worth of the commodity was 
to be measured. By this means, maize, beans, and 
venison, the usual articles brought for sale by the savages, 
were easily procured with small quantities of European 
goods. But the profligacy of the seamen soon defeated 
all the prudent policy of Smith, and rendered it easy to 
persuade the Indians of the mistake which they had made 
in so highly esteeming his power. It was soon found that 
a pound of copper could not now buy the grain which an 
ounce could formerly procure ; and the greatness of Smith 
sunk completely out of sight in the vast stature which 
Captain Newport acquired among the traders of Powhatan. 
Thus, says our author quaintly, " ambition and sufferance 
cut the throat of our trade." 
t^--' Such being the condition of affairs, our hero persuaded 
Captain Newport that a visit to Powhatan himself, at We- 
rowocomoco, would be a proper and advantageous pro- 
ceeding. It was desirable to impress that savage chieftain 
with a high idea of the power of the English people. It 
was also highly important to confirm the good understand- 
ing, and to extend the intercourse which had been estab- 
lished between the parties. Newport concurred with 
Smith in this policy, and sending certain presents to Pow- 
hatan, as from Newport, Smith advised the former of the 
projected visit. For this, preparations were at once made 
on both sides. The pinnace was prepared, and Smith and 
Newport, with some thirty or forty chosen men, as a 
guard, proceeded towards Worowocomoco, provided with 
the usual articles of Indian traffic. As they drew nigh to 
the immediate territories of Powhatan, the good Captain 
Newport, who had no sort of experience as an Indian 
fighter, or perhaps as a fighter of any kind, began to en- 
tertain some misgivings as to the prudence of the adven- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 167 

ture. He had heard a great deal of Indian treachery, and 
his apprehensions of danger increased with his meditations 
upon what he had heard. He soon suffered Smith to see 
that he was exceedingly reluctant at being caught in a 
predicament, such as that from which the latter had so re- 
cently and narrowly escaped. His knight-errantry was 
not of a sort to be easily reconciled to the peril, by the 
possible pleasant romance which might attend his rescue 
from it ; and it tasked all the argument of Smith to per- 
suade him to a continuance of the project. There were 
certain appearances about the shores of Werowocomoco, 
which, in particular, alarmed his fears. The landing 
was not a good one, creeks were to be crossed, and over 
these the Indians had thrown some rude contrivances in 
the fashion of a bridge, which, to the suspicious eyes of 
Newport, seemed neither more nor less than traps, in 
which, when his legs were once fairly entangled, his over- 
throw and execution were easy. We can very well fancy 
with what difficulty a veteran like Smith concealed his 
scorn at this show of imbecility. He, at length, as little 
troubled by fears of personal danger, or of any sort, as any 
man, dead or living, volunteered, at the head of twenty 
men of the party, to go ahead, and " encounter the worst 
that could happen." To this arrangement Newport con- 
sented, and while he remained in the pinnace, with one- 
half of the force, Smith set out with his " twenty siiot 
armed in Jacks,"* and going ashore, was met by a num- 
ber of the Indians, among whom was the king's son, Nan- 
taquis, the chief by whom he had been captured, and many 
other persons of distinction. These accompanied him on 
his journey, though Smith so contrived to intermingle with 



* Mail, or quilted jackets, generally in modem times a merely 
padded garment, affording partial protection against Indian arrows. 



168 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

his own men, the king's son and their chiefs, as, in the 
event of any mischief, to have them sufficiently in his 
power to enable him to control their followers through 
their fears. His caution seems to have been unnecessary. 
Their progress was unembarrassed, and the behavior of the 
Indians was equally kind and unexceptionable. 

Powhatan received our hero with a great show of re- 
joicing and state. " Sitting upon his bed of mats, his pil- 
low of leather imbrodered (after their rude manner, with 
pearle and white beads), his attyre a fine robe of skinnes, 
as large as an Irish mantell ; at his head and feete a hand- 
some younge woman ; on each side his house sat twentie 
of his concubines, their heads and shoulders painted red, 
with a great chaine of white beades about each of their 
neckes. Before those sat his chiefest men, in like order in 
his arbour-like house, and more than fortie platters of fine 
bread stood as a guard in two fyles on each side the doore. 
Foure or five hundred people made a guard behinde them 
for our passage, and proclamation was made, none upon 
paine of death to presume to do us any wrong or discour- 
tesie." 

This certainly shows well for the barbaric state of the for- 
est chieftain. It is not difficult to believe that Smith 
spoke without exaggeration when, describing the noble 
appearance of this proud savage, he says, " it is of such a 
majestie as I cannot well expresse, nor yet have often 
seene, either in Pagan or Christian. With a kind coun- 
tenance he bade all welcome, and caused a place to bee 
made by himselfe to sit." Smith presented him with a 
suit of red cloth, a white greyhound, and a hat. These 
were welcomed with an address, in which they were 
kindly accepted, in proof of the perpetual friendship which 
was to exist between the parties. Water was brought for 
the ablutions of the guest, and food was set before him. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 169 

" But where is your father?" meaning Newport, was the 
demand of Powhatan. Smith promised that he should see 
him the next day. The next question was propounded 
with a merry countenance. " Where are the great guns 
which you promised me when you went to Paspahegh .'^" 
Powhatan was prepared for the answer. He had heard 
from his trusty messenger Rawhunt, what had been the 
difficulty in bringing them ; and w^hen Smith told him that 
his guns had proved too great for his people's shoulders, 
he laughed heartily, but concluded with demanding, in 
place of them, some of a less burthen. The twenty fol- 
lowers of Smith were then brought before him. They 
had been well instructed by Smith to maintain a vigilant 
watch, even while making their obeisance. They re- 
ceived each of them an ample supply of food, and Smith 
then reminded Powhatan of the corn and land which he 
had promised him. *' He tolde me I should have it, but 
he expected to have all these men lay their arms at his 
feete, as did his subjects. I tolde him that was a cere- 
monie our enemies desired, but never our friends." Smith 
proceeded to exhort him not to doubt the friendship of the 
English ; that on the ensuing day Captain Newport, his 
father, would confirm his assurances to this effect, and 
would bestow upon him a child of his own, in proof of 
his sincerity ; and that whenever he, Powhatan, should be 
prepared for the enterprise, he should put under his sub- 
jection the territories of his worst enemies, the Monacans 
and Pocoughtronachs. These assurances highly delighted 
the Emperor, who at once, in a loud oration, created the 
speaker a Werowance or chief of Powhatan. The confer- 
ence was much more prolonged, but entirely to the same 
effect, and, with the warmest assurances of friendship on 
both sides, the parties separated. But the ebbing of the 

tide preventing Smith from regaining the pinnace that 
15 



170 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

night; he returned to the hospitalities of Powhatan, who 
was again delighted to receive him, and their conference 
was resumed " with many pretty discourses." The day 
was fairly spent in speeches and feasting, interspersed with 
sports, with dancing and singing, and such like mirth. "A 
great house, sufficient to harbor the whole of his men," was 
assigned to Smith, and a quarter of venison sent him " to 
stay his stomache." His supper, which was taken at the 
table of Powhatan, was a much more serious business. 
^* He set before mee meate for twentie men, and seeing I 
coulde not eate, hee caused it to be giv^en to my men ; for 
this is a general custom, when they give, not to take 
again, but you must either eate it, give it away, or carry it 
with you." Two or three hours after supper were "spent 
in our ancient discourses, which done, I was with a fire 
sticke (pine torch) lighted to my lodgings." Early the 
next day, Powhatan conducted Smith to the banks of the 
river, and made a display to him of his numerous canoes, — 
a fleet of which the savage king thought quite as proudly, no 
doubt, as our provincials before the American Revolution 
thought of that of George the Third. The various uses 
to which they were put, were detailed particularly to his 
hearers. Some of them were especially employed in 
bringing him tribute from the subject tribes along the 
Chesapeake. Some countries paid him in beads, others 
in skins, and others again in copper. While engaged in 
this survey, they descried Captain Newport approaching 
from the pinnace ; upon which, leaving Smith to conduct 
his coadjutor to his royal presence, Powhatan retired, that 
he might place himself in his usual state array for a 
royal reception. 

The English captain was no doubt exceedingly anxious 
about the absence of Smith. How he himself had slept 
was exceedingly doubtful. In all probability, a confused 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH, 171 

murmur of Indian song and festivity had been ringing in 
his ears and through his dreams all night, faint echoes of 
the merriment which welcomed his comrade in the tents 
of Powhatan. This, it is possible that he construed into 
the sons: of sacrifice over the dismembered carcass of his 
comrade. That he found him alive and in good spirits 
when he came ashore, was no doubt a subject of equal 
satisfaction to both. They approached the royal residence 
to the sound of trumpets, and with as much state as they 
could summon for the occasion. Their appearance before 
the king was hailed, as was that of Smith on the previous 
day, with shouts and acclamations. Then followed 
speeches from various chiefs, full of professions of good 
faith and fellowship. Powhatan, in the language of one 
of our authors, " strained himself to the utmost of his 
greatnesse to entertaine his distinguished guests." The 
proud savage was not to be outdone in bravery by the 
more courtly Europeans. State and ceremonial were, 
indeed, much more natural to him than to any of his 
visitors. He was born " in the purple," and it appears 
from all testimonies that his ordinary carriage would have 
done honor to that of any of the oldest houses of Europe. 
His manner of reception did not differ in any respect from 
that of the preceding day. He occupied his place of state, 
and was surrounded, as before, by his chiefs and an im- 
posing array of young women. His reception of New- 
port was frank and generous. Food and refreshments, 
the song and the dance, were employed to grace the 
favor v/hich the Emperor vouchsafed to the strangers ; 
and these civilities were followed by pledges of amity 
which it would be difficult to persuade modern philan- 
thropy to sanction. A white boy named Thomas Salvage, 
whom Newport did not hesitate to call his son, was pre- 
sented to Powhatan ; the Indian king, in return, bestowing 



172 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

upon the English captain a native lad named Namontack, 
" for his trustie servant ;" vi^ho is described as of " shrewd 
and subtill capacitie." 

In this interchange of courtesies that day passed, the 
English returning at night to their pinnace. The day 
following, their conferences were resumed. Powhatan 
having entertained tljem with breakfast, reproached them 
for bringing their arms to the interview. He pointed 
them to his followers, all of whom appeared without wea- 
pons. Was he not their friend .'' What did they doubt .'' 
What fear ^ Why this distrust ^ Smith answered, that 
it was the custom of their country ; but to quiet his ap- 
prehensions, Newport caused his soldiers to retire to the 
water side ; and, to prevent evil, Smith accompanied 
them. But this did not satisfy Powhatan. He was not 
disposed to suffer the absence of Smith from his immediate 
scrutiny. To please him, Mr. Scrivener, one af the coun- 
cil, and an intelligent gentleman, who had arrived with 
Newport from England, was sent to take Smith's place. 
But such an arrangement was scarcely more satisfactory 
to the wily savage than the other ; and the attempt to 
pacify him by such proceedings was suspended in order to 
try the effect of a vigorous traffic, and by these means the 
suspicions of Powhatan, if he really entertained them, 
were baffled and diverted. Three or four days were con- 
sumed, and not unpleasantly, in this sort of intercourse. 
Songs and speeches, feasting and dancing, with now and 
then a little traffic, admirably relieved the monotony of 
this state and diplomatic intercourse. In all this time, 
says our author, " Powhatan carried himselfe so proudly, 
yet discreetly (in his salvage manner), as made us all 
admire his naturall gifts, considering his education." He 
himself scorned to trade as did his subjects. 

" It is not agreeable to my greatness," he said to New- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 173 

port, " to traffic for trifles in this peddling manner. You, 
too, I esteem also as a great Werowance.* Therefore, 
lay me downe all your commodities together. What I 
like I will take, and in recompense give you what I thinke 
their fitting value." 

Smith was the interpreter between the parties, and it 
speaks wonderfully for his great facility that so short an 
acquaintance with the Indians had enabled him to be so. 
He at once detected the cunning policy of Powhatan, 
admirably disguised in this majestic carriage, and he 
warned Newport that his purpose was only to cheat him 
of his goods. But Newport, not to be outbraved in this 
ostentation of magnificence, and thinking that he should 
effectually bewitch the Indian Emperor by his bounty, 
at once laid his stores before him as he had demanded. 
The issue was just what had been predicted. Powhatan 
took what he pleased ; and, in bestowing his recompense 
in turn, valued his maize at such a price as to extort from 
our Captain the opinion that the article was to be had on 
better terms, " even in Spaine." Instead of twenty hogs- 
heads, which the same were expected to produce, the 
stately monarch assigned to the astounded Newport some- 
thing less than four bushels. Newport could not conceal 
his chagrin. He had been effectually outwitted. His 
stores were exhausted, his supplies were yet to be pro- 
cured, and the savage chieftain was as insatiate in his 
appetite as ever. The English captain lost his temper, 
and some unkindness followed between Smith and him- 
self, in consequence, in all probability, of the reproaches 
of the latter. But our adventurer, who better knew the 
nature of the savage than Newport, had his revenge upon 
Powhatan. He contrived, without seeming to design it, 



♦ Prince, or Chief. 

15* 



174 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

to suffer various trifles, which were novelties, to glitter in 
the eyes of the voracious savage. Among these were 
certain blue beads, such as had never before been seen at 
Werowocomoco. These caught the fancy of our forest 
monarch. But Smith shook his head in denial. These 
were very precious jewels, " composed of a most rare 
substance, of the color of the skyes, and not to be worn 
but by the greatest kings of the world." The pride of 
Powhatan was piqued ; his passions excited ; and in due 
degree with the reluctance of Smith to sell, was the in- 
crease of his importunacy to buy. The wary Captain 
played with his game at his leisure, until it " made him 
halfe madde to be the owner of such strange Jewells ;" 
and he succeeded finally in procuring a pound or two of 
them, but only at the expense of two or three hundred 
bushels of corn. Blue beads rose prodigiously in value. 
Opechancanough, one of the brothers of Powhatan, became 
the purchaser of a small supply at the same royal prices ; 
and such at length became the estimation in which they 
were held, " that none durst weare any of them but their 
greate kings, their wives and children." 



CHAPTER II. 

Powhatan did not suffer the cupidity of the trader to 
abridge the hospitalities of the prince. Though Smith 
had driven a hard bargain with him in the matter of the 
blue beads, he was yet particularly indulgent to that per- 
sonage, who sometimes lingered in his tents after night- 
fall, and long after the more nervous Newport had gone 
aboard his pinnace. Wht^n it so happened that the ebb 
of the tide required the English to regain their pinnace 
before the usual dinner hour, the savage monarch sent 
their feast of bread and venison after them, in quantities 
equal to the wants of thrice their number. To the last he 
betrayed an impatience of their weapons. Whether it 
was that he really distrusted them, or whether, as is more 
probable, he designed to make himself master of their com- 
modities without being compelled to supply his own, and 
could only hope to do so in the absence of the murderous 
instruments of war that the English carried, is matter for 
conjecture. Smith invariably contrived, without directly 
showing his apprehensions, to thwart his wishes in this 
particular. On one occasion, that of the last day of the 
visit, Powhatan sent his son on board the pinnace at an 
early hour, to entreat that they would not bring their 
pieces with them, lest his women should be frightened. 
But Smith, even against Newport's opinion, contrived to 
carry with him twenty-five shot. Powhatan took a spe- 
cial dislike to Smith's sword and pistol, and importuned 
him, in particular, to leave them in the pinnace. " But 
these," said our hero, significantly, " were the very terms 
of persuasion employed by those who afterwards betrayed 



176 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

US, and slew my brother." The women do not seem to 
have been frightened ; and the day passed as before. The 
trade in blue beads was as lively as ever : large quantities 
— speaking with due regard to the extreme value^ and 
great rareness of the article — changed hands, and the 
barge of the English was nearly freighted with provisions. 
The weather became unfavorable ; and it was midnight, 
and after great exposure to wind and rain, besides being 
nearly swamped in the oozy embraces of a marsh, before 
Smith, and the parties under his immediate command, 
could regain the vessel. The next morning was given to 
their parting interview. At their meeting, Powhatan, 
" with a solemne discourse," dismissed all his women and 
the ordinary attendants, suffering none to remain but his 
principal chiefs. He then referred to what Smith had 
hinted of their purpose to invade the Monacans, his ene- 
mies. He informed them that he was not openly the 
enemy of this people ; that there was peace between 
them ; but that he was not unwilling to do a little towards 
giving them trouble and discomfort. He would first send 
out his spies to see in what condition the Monacans stood ; 
what was their strength and ability ; and how far prepared 
against invasion. 

Politicians seem to be pretty much the same persons in 
all countries. Metternich and Talleyrand, Peel or Guizot, 
could not have declared themselves in more diplomatic 
language. 

" You and I," he said to Captain Newport, " cannot be 
seen in the business. We are great chiefs, and must stay 
at home. But Smith and Scrivener on your side, and 
Opechancanough and my two sons on mine, can manage 
all this business." — This, if not the language of the old 
despot, was pretty much what he me-ant to say. We 
have quoted in our own terms the very substance of his 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 177 

speech. He added, that the King of Pamaunkee should 
have from him one hundred of his warriors to commence 
the campaign. They should set forth as upon a hunting 
expedition, advising the English at what proper time to 
strike the blow. One hundred, or one hundred and fifty 
of the white soldiers, he judged would be sufficient for the 
exploit. For his own part, his desires for the spoils were 
moderate. He was content to have the women and the 
young children who were made captives. The men were 
to be slain. 

His fair assurances, and the vague particulars which he 
gave of great seas in the rear of his immense territories, 
with other details which Newport linked with a partial 
knowledge already in his own mind, persuaded that excel- 
lent person to believe, that, by this famous scheme for 
the overthrow of the Monacans, he was destined to pene- 
trate, by a short cut, to the waters of the South Sea ; an 
object, at that time, the great maritime passion of Europe. 

From Werowocomoco the English proceeded to the 
domains of Opechancanough, where they were welcomed 
with a courtesy like that which had hitherto attended their 
progress. To this place Powhatan sent to solicit their 
return. He had received tidings that new supplies had 
reached them from Jamestown, and he was anxious to 
make a second princely bargain with his brother Wero- 
wance, Newport. But Opechancanough was not willing 
to give them up. As one likely to have more influence 
than any other messenger, Powhatan sent a second 
entreaty by his daughter Pocahontas. Of her nothing has 
been seen or said in either of our narratives, during the 
late stay of the English at Werowocomoco. Doubtless 
she was with the women in immediate attendance upon 
the king ; but her extrem.e youth might have kept her out 
of sight. For the same reason she may have been chosen 



178 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

as his messenger. Had she been older, her father would 
scarcely have perilled her charms, remote from his own 
protection, in the rude contact with a strange people. As 
it was, she probably came well attended. Her presence 
had the desired effect ; and after staying two days with 
Opechancanough they returned to Werowocomoco, ex- 
changed new courtesies with Powhatan — probably made 
new bargains, but of these we have no mention — and 
receiving from him a present of another Indian, took their 
departure, after exchanging many protestations of friend- 
ship and fidelity. The Indian thus given by Powhatan 
was intended to be sent to England. His private instruc- 
tions from Powhatan were to report the strength in people 
of that country, and the wealth and magnitude thereof. 
In attempting this, at a subsequent period, the poor Indian 
procured himself a stick the moment he arrived in Lon- 
don, and a notch in the stick was made at every new face 
he met. But he soon gave up the task in despair ; assur- 
ing Powhatan on his return to Virginia, that the English 
were as numerous as the leaves on the tree, and the sands 
on the sea shore. 

Some little time was spent on their return, in diving 
into the bowels of a rock, the appearances about which 
led them to conjecture that it contained a mineral trea- 
sure. Though Smith dug in compliance with Newport's 
wishes, he yet discouraged the labor as perverse and fruit- 
less. It seems to have been worse than useless. " Our 
guilded refiners," says one of our narratives, " with their 
golden promises made all men their slaves, in hope of re- 
compenses ; there was no talke, no hope, no worke, but 
dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, loade gold ; such a bruit 
of gold that one mad fellow desired to be buried in the 
sands, least they should, by their art, make gold of his 
bones." "Were it that Captain Smith would not ap- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 179 

plaud all these golden inventions, because they admit- 
ted him not to the sight of their trials, nor golden consul- 
tations, I know not, but I have heard him oft question 
with Captaine Martin, and tell him except he could show 
him a more substantial! triall, he was not inamoured with 
their durty skill, breathing out these and many other pas- 
sions, never anything did more torment him than to see 
all necessary busines neglected, to fraught such a drunken 
ship with so much guilded durt." 

To a man of experience and good sense, certainly, no- 
thing could have been more annoying than to witness the 
fruitless labors of these grown children, prosecuted with so 
much confidence and zeal, at the expense not only of their ^ 
own, but of the vital interest of the colony. But he was 
compelled to groan in secret at this folly. Captain New- 
port himself was caught and deluded by this insane passion, 
though, says our author, with a sly sarcasm, " we never 
accounted Captain Newport a refiner." But this was not 
the whole of the evil which just then afflicted the colony, 
and the resolute heart which we have learned to regard as 
its real founder and support. His trading voyage for corn 
to Werowocomoco was, soon after his return, shorn of all 
its fruits by improvidence and accident. The grain thus 
procured was stored away with the rest in the common 
granaries. The winter (1607) was one of extreme seve- 
rity. The ample forests around our colonists made them 
profligate in the use of fire. The consequence was, that 
the town, the houses of which were wholly of wood, and 
thatched with reeds and brush, was set on fire, and the 
flames raged with such rapidity as to destroy their dwel- 
lings. Their granary, with all their provisions, was consum- 
ed; the fire even seized upon, and destroyed their palisa- 
does. Among the sufferers, " Good Master Hunt, our 
Preacher, lost all his library, and all he had but the cloathes 



180 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

on his backe ; yet none never heard him repine at his 
losse." This worthy clergyman, of whom such good re- 
port is made, was the same, who, it will be remembered, 
exerted himself so worthily to compose and subdue the 
discontent which prevailed among the colonists on ship- 
board during the first voyage out. The testimony is uni- 
formly in his favor, as a wise and pious Christian. The 
loss of his books, in such a region, was one of those trials 
of the soul which Providence employs for its better 
strength and purification. That none should ever hear 
him repine is sufficient proof that the ends of punishment 
had been obtained. 

Smith was a less patient man. His vocation was that 
of the reformer rather than the preacher. He could better 
scourge than entreat or expostulate, and his temper was 
in no respect improved while Newport and his mariners 
remained in the colony. The wretched passion after gold 
dust detained the ship fourteen weeks, when she should 
have been despatched in fourteen days. The consequence 
was, that the seamen consumed the provisions which were 
provided for the colony, and required to be supplied be- 
sides for the return voyage. Other evils had followed 
from its presence. " Those persons," says Stith, " who had 
either money, spare clothes, credit for bills of exchange, 
gold rings, furs, or any such valuable commodities, were 
always welcome to this floating tavern. Such was their 
necessity and misfortune, to be under the lash of those vile 
commanders, and to buy their own provisions at fifteen 
times their value ; suffering them to feast at their charge, 
whilst themselves were obliged to fast, and yet dare not 
repine lest they should incur the censure of being factious 
and seditious persons. By these means and management 
the colony was rather burdened than relieved, by the vast 
charges of the ship ; and being reduced to meal and water, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 181 

and exposed, by the loss of their town, to the most bitter 
cold and frost, above half of them died. Smith indeed, and 
Scrivener, endeavored to correct all abuses, and to put 
things into a better posture ; but they could do nothing to 
effect, being overpowered by the President and his party, 
who had long before this laid their difference to Smith's 
judgment and management." It was some consolation to 
our adventurer that he could send off with the vessel for 
England, those lawyers whom he had " laid by the heels " 
for seeking to circumvent and make him liable under the 
provisions of the Levitical law. " We not having any 
use of Parliaments, Plaises (pleadings perhaps), Petitions, 
admiralty Recorders, Interpreters, ChronologcrSy Courts of 
Pleas, nor Justices of the Peace, sent Martin Wingfield 
and Captain Archer home with him, that had ingrossed all 
these titles, to seeke some better place of imployment," 
16 



CHAPTER III. 

Newport at length took his departure, to the reHef of 
some and disquiet of other parties. Smith, in his shallop, 
accompanied him to the mouth of the Chesapeake. A 
parting gift for the voyager came from Powhatan, in the 
shape of twenty fat turkeys, for which, however, he claimed 
as many swords, by way of remembrance and considera- 
tion. This demand Newport imprudently complied with. 
Powhatan soon discovered the superior value of the Eng- 
lish weapon to his own, and this knowledge was the 
source of much evil to the colonists at a later period. 
Newport fairly at sea. Smith returned to Jamestown, 
stopping for a brief period on his way at the territories of 
the king ofNansemond, who had been hitherto hostile, 
and making a treaty with him. The prospect at James- 
town was little encouraging. The hamlet was in great 
part in ruins, and the coercive mind of Smith was not in 
the ascendant. The president, Radcliffe and Captain 
Martin, supported by a strong and wily faction, carried 
things after their own fashion. The public stores were 
withheld from public use, and made the subject of private 
barter for the benefit of these parties. They used the 
common stock as if it were so much personal revenue. 
Doubtless, if there had been any prospect of success in op- 
position. Smith was the man to have tried his strength 
against these profligates. We have seen sufficient proof 
of his resolute will and fierce determination to effect the 
right, whenever the probabilities were at all favorable to 
his endeavors. But he had also the admirable judgment 
which declares the proper time to strike ; and yielding the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 183 

struggle for the present, he contented himself, supported 
by Mr. Scrivener and others, in amending the evils of the 
existing government so far as lay in his power. With the 
approach of spring, he took charge of the corn-fields, pre- 
pared them, and set a crop. This done he applied him- 
self to the rebuilding of the town, restoring first the church, 
the storehouses and the fortifications. While thus en- 
gaged, the colony was excited anew by the arrival of the 
Phoenix, a barque commanded by Captain Nelson, which 
had been separated from Newport in a storm, driven to 
the West Indies, and given up for lost. This vessel 
brought supplies of provisions for six months, and, an ac- 
quisition equally important, an addition to the force of the 
colony of no less than one hundred and twenty persons. 
It is to be remembered, however, that the disproportion of 
gentlemen to workingmen^ which had always been a source 
of discomfort to Smith, was again unprofitably large. 
" This happy arrival of Maister Nelson in the Phoenix, 
having been then about three months missing, did so lav- 
ish us with exceeding joy, that now we thought ourselves 
as our harts could wish, both with a competent number 
of men, as also for all other needful provisions," and it en- 
couraged Smith to plan a journey of exploration into the 
surrounding country. The Monacans, into whose weak- 
ness Powhatan was willing to spy, previous to any attempt 
upon their territories, were objects of great curiosity to 
our English, and seventy men being selected for the pur- 
pose, Smith proceeded to train them for the adventure ; 
in six or seven days' practice, teaching them " to march, 
fight and scirmish in the woods, their willing mindes to 
this action so quickened their understanding in this exer- 
cise, as in all judgments wee were able to fight with 
Powhatan's whole force." Here our hero was at home. 
His mind resumed its ancient vivacity in this military em- 



184 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

ploy. Already had he prepared his plans of progress — 
assigned the proper defences to the fort, arranged for his 
supplies of food on the march, and put all things in order 
to his purpose, when circumstances, perverse men, and 
perverse fortune, combined to defeat the scheme. Fears 
and scruples beset the president and others in council. 
Such a progress would be an indiscretion, would be an en- 
croachment upon the rights of Newport to whom only the 
right to prosecute such discoveries belonged. These scru- 
ples and objections discouraged Nelson, who was to have 
assisted in the expedition with certain volunteer marines, 
and he withdrew from the adventure. The enterprise 
miscarried in spite of all the hopes and energies of our 
Captain ; and instead of going upon the conquest of Mona- 
can, he was compelled to remain at the fort, contending 
with the follies of the council on the one hand, and the 
Indians of Powhatan on the other. Smith was for filling 
the Phcenix with cedar on her return voyage, while 
Captain Martin " was opposite to anything, but onely to 
fraught this ship with his phantasticall gold ;" and though 
the more sensible suggestion prevailed, yet it called for all 
the resolution and diligence of Smith, seconded by Nelson, 
Scrivener, and others, to carry their object, and to make 
the lading of a commodity, which we are told " was a 
present despatch" — of ready sale — " than either with 
durt, or the hopes and reports of an uncertaine discovery 
(the gold mine), which he woulde performe when they 
hadde less charge and more leisure." 

While our Captain was thus busy in freighting the 
Phoenix, and rebuilding the settlement, a surprising change 
took place in the behavior of the Indians. This capri- 
cious people, late so friendly, began to show themselves 
troublesome at first, and finally hostile. The first signs of 
this change took place in consequence of a disappoint- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 185 

ment of Powhatan. Finding it so easy to procure English 
swords from Newport in exchange for the fat turkeys of 
Werowocomoco, he tried Smith in the same manner ; 
sending him twenty of these fowls, and demanding certain 
weapons for them in exchange. But Smith was not the 
man to respect the error of Newport. He paid for the 
turkeys in any coin but that which the savage chief de- 
sired. Powhatan had set his heart upon these weapons, 
and his people, whether positively instructed, or simply 
anxious to serve their master in a manner that would 
please him, undertook by twenty characteristic devices to 
obtain them. First they resorted to simple thieving, a 
method which seems to have been practised more or less 
by every primitive people from the beginning of time. 
They were frequent visitors at Jamestown, and bore away 
with them whatever they could secrete. Impunity made 
them bolder. The tools of the workmen disappeared, and 
the same thief who had been caught one day in the act, 
was neither afraid nor ashamed to make the same attempt 
the next. What they steal, says Smith, " their king 
receiveth." This high sanction increased their audacity. 
Too closely watched for their wonted sleight of hand, they 
grew bold to take by violence what they could not obtain 
by skill. " By ambuscadoes at our very ports, they would 
take them perforce, surprise us at worke, or any way ; 
which was so long permitted, they became so insolent there 
was no rule ; the command from England was so strait 
not to offend them, as our authoritie-bearers (keeping 
their houses*) would rather be anything than peace- 
breakers. This charitable humor prevailed, till well it 
chanced they meddled with Captaine Smith, who, without 
farther deliberation, gave them such an encounter" as soon 



* In safety themselves. 

16* 



186 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

brought a remedy for the mischief. Two swords having 
been stolen, he caught the offender and clapt him in the 
bilboes When let out he disappeared for a time, but soon 
returned with three others armed with wooden swords. 
Smith ordered them to depart, but, flourishing their swords 
in his face, they bade him defiance. Without waiting for 
them to strike, our ready soldier answered their flourish 
with a blow. This the others offered to revenge, but 
Smith fell upon them, and, smiting hip and thigh, drove 
them from the premises, Then getting together half a 
dozen soldiers, without asking or waiting for orders, he 
sallied forth, and drove their lurking parties entirely from 
the island. 

This decision produced for the time an excellent effect. 
The Indians became modest and conciliatory. The King 
of Nansemond, who lived thirty miles from the settlement, 
sent back a hatchet that had been stolen ; and such Indians 
as had been employed upon the wears (fish traps) of the 
English, but had temporarily abandoned them for the 
more honorable business of stealing, voluntarily came 
back, made their submission, and resumed their labors. 
But the caprice of the savages would not allow them to 
remain pacific long. They soon put themselves in suspi- 
cious attitudes, and renewed their peculations. One of them 
having stolen a hatchet, and being pursued by Scrivener, 
drew his arrow to the head upon him ; and two of them, 
well armed and painted for war, made an attempt upon 
Smith, " circling about mee, as though they would have 
clubbed me like a hare ;" but lacking boldness, tjiey suf- 
fered him to reach the fort in safety. Followed by these 
and several others within the enclosure, and proceeding 
to offer violence. Smith had the ports closed, and took 
them into custody. Sixteen or eighteen were seized in 
this manner. This brought them to a parley. Ambassa- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 187 

dors came to treat for the delivery of the prisoners. The 
answer was, that they should only obtain their freedom 
upon the restoration of all the swords, spades, shovels, 
and other tools which they had stolen. Failing in this, 
the ambassadors were told that the captives should be 
hung. This, of course, was a threat only. Meanwhile, 
two of the Englishmen fell into the hands of the natives,* 
who at once returned in numbers to the gates of James- 
town, and boldly threatened retaliation upon their prison- 
ers if any of their people suffered harm. This threat was 
answered by a sally from Smith, who, " in lesse than an 
houre, so hampred their insolencies, they brought then 
his two men, desiring peace without any further compo- 
sition for their prisoners." 

But peace was not so easily granted. The prisoners 
were subjected to a searching examination, and, under the 
terror of death, they revealed the scheme of a conspiracy 
against the colony, which involved Powhatan and all his 
tributary kings. This conspiracy had been maturing for 
some time, and had its birth before Smith himself had 
been taken prisoner. His arrest had been in consequence 
of this combination. Their plan had subsequently aimed 
to surprise them while at work. " Powhatan, and all his, 
would seeme friends till Captaine Newport's returne," 
that he might recover his man Namontack in safety. 
Then he was to invite Newport to a great feast, and take 
advantage of the occasion to make him prisoner. Like 
devices were to involve other parties of the whites in a 
like predicament. 

Such was the amount of the confession made by Maca- 
nor, the counsellor of Paspahegh ; a confession which was 



* " Ranging in the woods — which mischiefe no punishment will 
prevent but hanging." — Smith. 



188 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

confirmed only in part by the statements, similarly extort- 
ed,* of other Indians. By these it was learned '^ that 
Paspahegh and Chickahammania did hate us, and intended 
some mischief, and who they were that tooke me, the 
names of them that stole our tooles and swords, and that 
Powhatan received them they all agreed " 

The tidings of the seizure of his subjects, their deten- 
tion, their confession, and the constant exercise by Smith 
of his armed men, reached Powhatan, and rendered it 
necessary that he should be at some pains to disabuse the 
English of the unfriendly impressions which they had 
received of his own hostility. His safety, not his charac- 
ter, was the source of his solicitude. Accordingly, he 
despatched the boy Thomas Salvage, who had been given 
him by Newport, with a present of turkeys, especially 
to Smith and Scrivener, who, the sagacious old savage 
had already discovered, were the two master spirits of the 
settlement. The boy thus opportunely placed in his 
hands, at a moment when there was good ground for sus- 
pecting the intentions of the Emperor, Smith resolved to 
keep, and this increased the anxieties of the former. His 
next messenger betrayed the extent of his fears and his 
cunning. This was the young damsel Pocahontas. " Yet 
he sent his messengers, and his dearest daughter, Poca- 
hontas, with presents to excuse him of the injuries done by 
some rash untoward captaines, his subjects, desiring their 
liberties for this time, with the assurance of his love for 
ever."! Smith's own narrative J is more explicit, and 

* " I bound one in hold to the maine-mast, and presenting six mus- 
kets with match in the cockes, forced him," &c. * * * Alter each 
examination, " certaine vollies of shot wee caused to be discharged, 
which caused each other to thinke that their fellowes had been slaine." 

Sviith. 

t " The true Travels," &c. Richmond ed. Vol. i., p. 171. 

1 " A true Relation," &c, Richmond ed. Page 81. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 189 

more ambitious, though to the same effect. " Powhatan 
understanding we detained certain salvages, sent his 
daughter, a child of tenne years old^ which not only for 
feature, countenance and proportion, much exceedeth any 
of the rest of his people, but for wit and spirit the only 
nonpareil of his country : this he sent by his most trustie 
messenger, called Rawhunt, as much exceeding in defor- 
mitie of person, but of a subtill wit and crafty understand- 
ing." Through these, the Emperor assured Smith that 
he greatly loved and respected him — that he must not 
doubt his affection — in proof of which he had sent his 
child, whom he most esteemed, to see him. Such was the 
message borne by Pocahontas. She brought from her 
father, as a present, a supply of bread and a deer. She 
entreated that the captives might be spared and set free. 
She also entreated that the boy might be sent back to her 
father, as he loved him exceedingly. 

Pocahontas might well urge such a prayer to the man 
whom her own entreaties had saved from death. It was 
with a happy policy that Powhatan made her his ambassa- 
dor. If anything could touch the soul of Smith, at any 
moment, it must have been the presence of such a pleader ; 
and how much must there have been of the pleasing and 
the tender in the interview between that young Indian 
child and the stern warrior, whose heart, in frequent trials 
of the world's strife, had perhaps grown somewhat callous 
against most human weaknesses ! Yet he betrays none of 
this callosity while he treats with Pocahontas. Her gen- 
tle virtues, her eager, earnest interest in his behalf, her 
extreme youth and wonderful beauty, which made her the 
nonpareil of her race and country — these seem to have 
always had their influence over his soul, when she is the 
subject of consideration. He speaks of her as the dearest 
daughter, the little daughter of Powhatan ; and in such 



190 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

tender diminutives sufficiently declares the feelings of a 
man who was but too commonly accustomed to conceal 
them. That he holds her as a thing almost perfect, we 
gather from his passing and unaffected utterances. He 
does not speak of her ostentatiously. It is only when it 
belongs to the absolute business of the narration that he 
employs her name, and then only in such manner as to 
make us regret that he does not use it more frequently. 
A few more passages of this description, and the character 
of Smith, which must be allowed to have suffered some- 
what from a certain harshness and hardness of outline, 
would have had the requisite softening, and we should 
then have been at some loss to discover its deficiencies. 
But Pocahontas has her influence upon him, and it is one 
of no equivocal character. For the power of the Indian 
sovereign, her father, his own fierce courage did not allow 
him to entertain much respect ; and, seeing through his 
faithlessness, he already half despises him. Opechanca- 
nough has his entreaties also, for some of the prisoners 
are his friends and subjects ; and sending his presents, 
seeks an interview himself with Smith, to disarm his 
suspicions and hostility. But the latter smiles grimly 
and scornfully, and yields nothing. It is only to Poca- 
hontas that he accords his prisoners. When Opechanca- 
nough and his attendants had gone, the prisoners were 
conducted to the church, and then, after prayer, bestowed 
upon Pocahontas. It is to her only that they are given ; 
their bows, arrows, and all that they had when taken, are 
surrendered at the same time without conditions, " to the 
king's daughter, in regard of her father's kindnsss in send- 
ing her." She herself was presented with certain trifles, 
which, we are told, contented her. She was probably 
contented easily. Her actions do not seem to have need- 
ed any less noble impulse than the native goodness, gen- 
tleness, and benignity of her character. 



CHAPTER IV. 

In these decisive proceedings Smith had trespassed far 
beyond the Hmits of his autliority. He had usurped the 
powers of the President and council in Virginia, and had 
disobeyed the mild instructions which had been sent out 
by the proprietors in England. His mind was not of a 
sort to submit easily to commands which were obviously 
founded in ignorance of the facts, and to restraints which 
did not regard their necessity ; and just as little was he 
disposed to yield implicit obedience to a present authority 
which had always shown itself so impotent, at least, for 
good. His proceedings, though resulting in advantage to 
the colony, and though not a life of the Indians was taken, 
were met with rebuke and dissatisfaction amonor his 
brethren. " The patient councell, that nothing would 
move to warre with the salvages, would gladly have 
wrangled with Captaine Smith for his crueitie ;* yet none 



* Take a sample of" these cruelties, which will at the same time 
give a lively picture of the life at Jamestown. It is from the " True 
Relation," by Smith himself: " Two dales after a Paspeheyan came 
to show us a glistering minerall stone ; and with signes demonstrating 
it to be in great aboundance, like unto rockes ; with some dozen more 
I was sent to seeke to digge some quantitie, and the Indian to conduct 
mee ; but suspecting this some trick to delude us, for to get some cop- 
per of us, or with some ambuscado to betray us, seeing him falter in 
his tale, being two miles on our way, led him ashore, where abusing 
(misleading) us from place to place, and so seeking either to have 
drawn us with him into the woods, or to have given us the slippe : I 
shewed him copper which I promised to have given him, if he had 
performed his promise, but for his scoffing and abusing us, I gave 
him twentie lashes with a rope, and his bowes and arrowes, bidding 



192 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

was slaine [of the savages] to any man's knowledge, but 
it brought them in such fear and obedience, as his very 
name would sufficiently affright them ; where before, wee 
had sometime peace and warre twice in a day ; and very 
seldome a weeke but we had some treacherous villainy or 
other."* It was perhaps fortunate for Smith that the mis- 



him shoote if he durst, and so let him goe." It was rather danger- 
ous to trifle with our Captain. He was very much the soldier, and 
the word and blow very frequently went together. But we suspect 
that such cruelties as this would be practised by Christian soldiery of 
modern times, under the same provocation, to a still greater extent. 
At least, we are accustomed to hear of much worse in the wars of 
Christian Europe. 

* Here we lose all farther assistance from the narrative of Th. 
Watson, Gent., otherwise Smith himself, entitled, " A true relation of 
such occurrences and accidents of noate as hath happened in Virginia 
since the first planting of that collony, which is now resident in the 
south part thereof, till the last return from thence." This narrative, 
published at the time (1608), brought up the proceedings of the colony 
to the very moment when it was written. It was probably sent home 
by the Phoenix, and bears all the marks of being a very hurried per- 
formance. The style is very confused and cumbrous — the particulars 
not always given in due order, and we find — a very remarkable 
omission — no mention made of the manner in which he was rescued 
from the executioner Powhattan by the intervention of Pocahontas. 
Indeed, there appears to be some solicitude that Captain Smith should 
not become too conspicuous in this narrative, and hence, possibly, the 
notion of making the publication appear as the work of Tho. Watson — 
a nom deplume, for which we now find it difficult to discover a necessity 
or motive. All reproaches of his colleagues and associates are spared in 
this performance. It was the policy to make the settlers appear very well 
contented in Virginia — as in this way only could others be persuaded 
to adventure. Hence, at the conclusion, we have a picture of felicity at 
Jamestown, very far from the truth, which must have brought them 
to believe in England that Astraea was once more about to make her 
home on earth — " We, now remaining, being in good health, all our 
men well contented, free from mutinies, in love one with another, and 
as we hope in a continuall peace with the Indians, where, we doubt not, 
but by God's gracious assistance and the adventurers' willing mindes and 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 193 

conduct of the President himself, in matters which touched 
more certainly the safety and well-being of the colony, 
afforded a more legitimate subject for the indignation of 
their little community. The President who had succeeded 
upon the deposition of Wingfield, was Captain John Rad- 
cliffe. This man was totally unequal to the situation, — is 
described as being little beloved — of weak judgment in 
time of danger — and of no industry in time of peace. He 
was sickly besides, and freely committed the responsible 
duties of his office to the hands of others. At first, a por- 
tion of this trust was given to Smith ; but Smith lost favor 
in his sight, and he then united himself with creatures 
who hated and dreaded the vigilance of our Captain, and 
had been his enemies from the outset. Radcliffe himself 
had been one of these, and only yielded to the influence 
of Smith when the courage and peculiar energy and ability 
of our hero were necessary to the common safety. With 
the disappearance of the danger came a forgetfulness of 
his worth ; and the President sank back into the control 
of those who were willing to pander to his appetites. We 
have seen this man, assisted by others, converting the 
stores of the community into a source of revenue for him- 
self; continuing this practice, as if the stock were wholly 
his own. So deeply did his rapacity trench upon the 
resources of the colony, as to force upon Smith and Scriv- 
ener the necessity of taking such order with him as to put 
a stop to his prodigality. Measures were accordingly 
adopted, by which to limit him and his satellites to a cer- 
tain allowance, rated proportionally with what was accord- 



speedie furtherance to so honorable an action in after times, to see our 
nation to enjoy a country not only exceeding pleasant for habitation, 
but also very profitable for commerce in generall, no doubt pleasing" 
Almightie God, honorable to our gracious sovereign and commodious 
generally to the whole kingdome." 
17 



194 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

ed to the rest. This difficulty being adjusted, the town 
rebuilt, the Indians quieted, the corn crop nearly made, 
and all through the strenuous exertions and manly courage 
of our Captain, his eager and impatient spirit began to 
look around him seeking proper employment. He was 
not the man to rest upon his oars, his cruise being over, 
but to plan other voyages, and shape out new enterprises, 
in which his genius could find fitting exercise. Denied to 
explore the interior, and penetrate to those wondrous ter- 
ritories of which Powhatan had given such glowing des- 
criptions, it was still within the province of the settlers to 
explore the region contiguous to that in which they had 
pitched their tents. Accordingly, he meditated the explo- 
ration of the Bay of Chesapeake. To this no objection 
seems to have been made. The President was probably 
only too well pleased to be relieved from the vigilance of 
his eye, and the unbending rigor of his justice. His de- 
sign was less adventurous, less perilous than that which 
he most eagerly desired. We have seen him training 
seventy men, with which he felt himself equal to the 
whole nation of Powhatan. He might have made his 
way with such a force across the Apalachian summits, 
descending to the waters of the Mississippi. With seventy 
men Pizarro first penetrated the great empire of Peru. 
Our Captain was compelled to content himself with a more 
moderate ambition. His seventy men were reduced to 
fifteen persons, himself included. One of these was a 
physician, six were gentlemen — so rated, though we cannot 
well conceive their uses in such an expedition — and seven 
were soldiers. He left the fort on the second of June 
(1608), in an open barge of less than three tons burthen, 
and made his way, in company with the Phcenix, to Cape 
Henry, at which place he parted with her. Crossing the 
bay from this point to the eastern shore they made the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 1 95 

isles which still bear the name of their first discoverer. 
Two stout savages at Cape Charles stood armed with 
lances headed with bone, and seemed prepared to do battle 
with our explorers, demanding who they were and whence 
they came. The reply of Smith disarmed them, and they 
civilly directed him to Accomac, the habitation of their 
Werowance. Here they were received kindly. This 
chief is described as one of the most comely and affable 
savages they had ever met. He told Smith, among other 
things, of an event which had lately happened, which 
belongs to that class of wonders of which a superstitious 
people always make large account. Two children dying, 
" some extreame passions, or dreaming visions, phan- 
tasies, or affection," moved their parents to revisit them 
at their place of sepulture. To their wonder, the faces 
of the children " reflected to the eyes of the beholders such 
delightful countenances, as though they had regained their 
vitall spirits. This, as a miracle, drew many to behold 
them." The consequences were fatal to all who did so. 
A plague seized upon the spectators, and but few escaped 
the mortality. In this way did the chief of Accomac 
account to Smith for the sparseness of his population. 
What effect this superstition had upon his character, in 
producing that dignity and courtliness which we are told 
distinguished him, is matter for conjecture. He spoke the 
language of the Pov/hatanese, and spoke so agreeably 
always while describing the country, that Smith acknow- 
ledges it gave him exceeding pleasure to hear. The 
domain of this chief lay within the southwestern part of 
Northampton county. 

From Accomac our Captain proceeded along the coast, 
*' searching every inlet and bay fit for harbours and habita- 
tions." He was baffled by a thunderstorm in an attempt 
to reach certain isles which he discovered in the bay, and 



196 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

had a narrow escape from the " unmercifull raging of that 
ocean-like water." To isle and headland, names were 
given in this progress, mostly chosen from the companions 
of our adventurer. Thus one day was spent. A diffi- 
culty in procuring fresh water caused them to turn into 
the next eastern channel, which brought them into the 
river Pocomoke, then called Wighcomocco. Here they 
were at first threatened by the savages with shows of 
war, but the pacific aspect of the white men, and the 
judicious management of Smith, converted the fury of their 
assault into songs and dances, and a reception full of kind- 
ness and good feeling. But they got no good water here, 
turning with loathing from such puddle as was offered 
them for drink. " But before two dales were expired we 
would have refused two barricoes of gold for one of that 
puddle water of Wighcomocco." The next water they 
found was a pond, which proved to be a natural hot bath, 
sufficiently fresh, but rather too warm for drinking pur- 
poses. This was upon the main, upon a highland, which, 
in compliment to an honorable house in France, was call- 
ed Point Ployer. Resuming their progress, they encoun- 
tered a second thunder-storm, if possible more terrible 
than the first ; lost mast and sails, and were so " over- 
racked" by such " mightie waves," that with great diffi- 
culty they kept their barque above the water. They 
succeeded in making a port among certain uninhabited 
isles, where they were kept two days by the continuance 
of the storm. They called this harborage Port Limbo. 
Repairing their sails with their shirts, they resumed their 
voyage and fell in with the river which is now called 
Corghcomocco, but which then bore the name of Cuscar- 
rowack. Here their presence was a novelty and terror. 
The people ran in troops along the shores as the barque 
pressed forward, many getting into the tops of trees 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 197 

to see and oppose the strangers. They were not sparing 
of their arrows, and declared their hostility with the most 
passionate shows of violence. But,lying at anchor beyond 
the reach of their darts, our Captain contented himself 
with making them signs of friendship. These did not appear 
to produce the desired effect, and the day passed in con- 
tinued demonstrations of hostility on the part of the natives. 
The next day they came to the river side unarmed, and 
bringing with them baskets of corn and dancing in a ring, 
the wily savages endeavored in this way to beguile the 
Englishmen ashore. But, detecting an ambush in a neigh- 
boring cane-brake. Smith answered their devices with a 
volley of musket-shot, which sent them tumbling in every 
direction. Then approaching the shore, after another 
volley had drilled the place of ambuscade, our Captain 
penetrated their habitations. Here he left some of the 
usual trifles, but not a savage was to be seen. The next 
day four of the Indians who had been fishing in the bay 
and knew nothing of what had happened, came to him 
in a canoe and had a conference. They disappeared and 
soon brought others, the number gradually increasing to 
two or three thousand, men, women, and children, each 
bringing a present, and each so gratified with the merest 
trifle in return, that a friendship was struck up between 
the parties, of such a zealous nature, that the Indians strove 
with one another who should fetch water for the pale- 
faces, become their hostages, guide them through the 
country, or most content them in whatever they desired. 
Here dwelt the people of Sarapinagh, Nanse, Arseek, and 
Nantaquak — tribes of which there now remain no ves- 
tiges. Smith describes them as the best merchants among 
the Indians. They were the manufacturers, and carried 
on the commerce. They had the finest furs and made 

large quantities of the best Roanoke. This was a sort of 
17* 



198 LIFEOF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

white bead wrought from shells, which served with the 
savages of the whole country as a circulating medium. 
It was, with copper, their substitute for gold and silver. 
These people were small of stature. They aroused 
Smith's curiosity in relation to a people called the Massa- 
womekes, a masculine and valiant race, very numerous, 
and very powerful ; who possessed in large degree the 
amiable faculty of keeping their neighbors in constant 
apprehension. These people are supposed to have been 
those afterwards so famous in English annals as the six 
nations, and among the French as the Iroquois — the great 
confederacy of the north, whose claims to conquest — 
claims which we suspect were only partially founded in 
the truth — have procured for them the title of the Romans 
of America. It is very sure that their neighbors gave a 
formidable account of them. If Powhatan did not abso- 
lutely fear, he greatly respected them ; and what was 
said of them, their valor and resources, by the Powhatan- 
ese, provoked the curiosity of our Captain, and determined 
him, very much against the wishes of his companions, to 
make the discovery of their territories one of the grand 
objects of his expedition. His adventurous spirit panted 
to make the acquaintance of a nation sufficiently power- 
ful to make their conquest equally honorable and de- 
sirable. 

From the eastern shore, which he found broken with 
uninhabited islands, and for the most part without fresh 
water, he stood westward across the bay and made the 
mouth of the Patuxent. For thirty leagues sailing north- 
ward no inhabitants were found. In place of these, how- 
ever, there were wolves, bears, deer, and other wild 
beasts in abundance, and an ample supply of water. Pass- 
ing many shallow streams, the first they found navigable 
was one supposed to be the Patapsco, to which, or ac- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 100 

count of the appearance of the clay along the cliffs, resem- 
bling bol ammonia, they gave the name of Bolus. But 
that vSmith himself has provided us with this derivation, 
we might have ascribed this infelicitous title to the work- 
ing of a mutinous spirit among the gentlemen of the expe- 
dition, which broke out at this place. It was thought, 
when the voyage was begun, that it would be only too 
short a one to gratify the eager curiosity of those who 
were about to embark — that Smith would be in too great 
a hurry to get back to the colony, supposing his presence 
to be necessary to the proper management of affairs with 
such a person as Radcliffe in the presidency. But the 
notion of these gallants, who were none of them accustom- 
ed to hardships, soon began to change when, at the end of 
twelve or fourteen days, spent in an open barge, weary of 
the oars, bread soaked with wet and much of it decayed, 
yet still susceptible of digestion by hungry stomachs — 
they found him meditating a visit to the Massawomekes, 
and other tedious and dangerous adventures. Their dis- 
contents grew at length to such importunancy, as to pro- 
voke our Captain to declare himself in the following 
manner : 

" Gentlemen, if you would remember the memorable 
history of Sir Ralph Sayre, how his company importuned 
him to proceed in the discovery of Moratico, alledging 
they had yet a dog, that being boyled with saxafras leaves 
would richly feede them in their returnes ; then, what a 
shame would it be for you (that have bin so suspitious of 
my tendernesse) to force me returne, with so much pro- 
vision as we have, and scarce able to say where we have 
beene, nor yet heard of that wee were sent to seeke ? You 
cannot say but I have shared with vou in the worst which 
is past ; and for what is to come, of lodging, dyet, or 
whatsoever, I am contented you allot the worst part to 



200 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

myselte. As for your feares that I will lose myself in 
these unknowne large waters, or be swallowed up in some 
stormie gust, abandon these childish feares, for worse than 
is past is not likely to happen, and there is as much dan- 
ger to return as to proceede. Regaine, therefore, your 
old spirits, for returne I will not (if God please) till I have 
scene the Massawomekes, found Patawomek, or the head 
of this water, you conceit to be endlesse." 

This firm expression of his resolve silenced the discon- 
tents, but circumstances helped their entreaties. Three 
or four of them fell sick, and this, with a continuance of 
adverse weather for several days, determined Smith, how- 
ever unwillingly, to forbear for the present the prosecution 
of the voyage. He left the bay where it was some nine 
miles wide, with a draught of nine or ten fathoms, and on 
the 16th of June fell in with the mouth of the Potomac 

The sight of this noble river cheered the drooping spi- 
rits of his men, and their health being somewhat restored, 
it was determined to explore it. For thirty miles no 
inhabitants were seen. At length they met with two, who 
conducted them up a little creek towards Onanomanient, 
and into an ambuscade. Here the English found them- 
selves surrounded by savages to the number of three or 
four thousand; — " So strangely paynted, grimed and dis- 
guised, shouting, yelling and crying, as so many spirits 
from hell could not have showed more terrible." But 
Smith cared little for their bravados. Still, it was deemed 
necessary to scare them a little, and, training his guns so 
as to allow the stroke of the bullets to be seen by the 
savages upon the water, he gave them a few volleys, 
which soon brought them \o their senses. Down went 
bows and arrows, and all was peace between the parties, 
and wonderment at least with one of them. They sur- 
prised Smith with some of their statements. They did 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH, 201 

not hesitate to declare that they had been commanded to 
destroy the English by Powhatan, who had heard of this 
expedition. This was not so much calculated to provoke 
his astonishment as what they told him farther, to the 
effect that Powhatan had been advised by certain of the 
settlers at Jamestown of all Smith's proceedings, and had 
been encouraged by them to put him to death, as he kept 
them in the country against their will. The reckless 
manner in which men were gathered up in England for the 
purposes of colonization is matter of history. We know 
very well that the profligate and criminal but too com- 
monly furnished the chief materials for such enterprises. 
But it is not easy to yield our faith to such desperate 
wickedness as this, and we should be now inclined to 
withhold it, and to ascribe it to some imperfect under- 
standing of what was said by the savages, but that subse- 
quent circumstances, absolute facts, and the commission 
of particular deeds on the part of some of the wretches 
thus characterized, go fully to confirm the statement. 

Their farther progress up the river found the people at 
all places, with few exceptions, armed and ready in the 
same spirit and under the same instructions to assail them. 
The Moyaones, Nacotchtants^ and Toags — heathen of 
whom we have no farther traces — alone received them 
with hospitality. Having gone as far as they could go in 
their vessel, they commenced their return, and were for- 
tunate in meeting with numerous savages in canoes well 
stocked with the flesh of slaughtered bears, deer, and 
other beasts, of which they received liberal portions. 
The aspect of the shores, with great rocks towering above 
the trees, commanded their attention, more particularly as 
the progress of water down the sides had left " a tinc- 
tured spangled skurfe, that made many bare places seeme 
as guilded." Dreams of gold and gold mountains were 



202 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

ever working in the brains of the voyagers of those days. 
Smith himself seems to have been superior to the various 
delusions by which they were mocked. But not so his 
companions. They clambered up the rocks, and burrow- 
ed in the earth among their highest cliffs. The ground 
was so sprinkled with yellow spangles as to seem " halfe 
pin dust." Conducted by Japazaws, King of Patawo- 
meke, still under the belief that they were on the tracks 
of a gold mine, they ascended one of the tributaries of the 
Potomac as far as the depth of water would suffer the boat 
to go. Here Smith left her, taking with him six men, and 
surrounded by divers savages, some of whom, to be sure 
of their fidelity, he carried in the twofold character of 
guides and hostages. These he adroitly decorated with 
chains which, if they conducted him in safety, they were 
to keep as ornaments. The temptation was too great to 
suffer them to feel the weight or the restraint of their 
decorations. They meant him fairly, and conducted him 
to the foot of a mountain, the substance of which seemed 
to be antimony. The tribes had burrowed in its bowels 
before. Their shells and hatchets had long been familiar 
with its treasures. Washed of its dross " in a fayre 
brooke of christel-like water," which " runneth hard by 
it," it is put into little bags, and made an article of trade 
of ready sale throughout the country. It had no use but 
as a paint. With this they paint the images of their gods, 
and their own bodies and faces, " which makee them 
looke like blackmoores dusted over with silver." Re- 
warding his guides, and the king to whom they belonged, 
our Captaine obtained a supply of this precious commodity. 
This was sent to England ; was represented by Newport 
to be half silver, and new supplies were procured, which 
proved to be of no value. No minerals were discovered 
in this search. Some furs were gathered, the best of 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. §^' 

which were found among the Indians of Cascarawaoke, 
that merchant tribe which did so much of the manufactur- 
ing and trading of the country. Beavers, otters, bears, 
martens, and minkes, rewarded in some slight degree their 
search ; and fish were in such abundance, " lying so 
thicke, with their heads above the water, as for want of 
nets (our barge driving amongst them) we attempted to 
catch them with a fryingpan !" But this was found, drily 
remarks our narrative, " a bad instrument to catch fish 
with." They succeeded better with their swords, follow- 
ing the example of Smith, who, whenever at ebb tide their 
boat chanced to ground upon the shoals at the entrances 
of rivers, would amuse " himselfe by nayling them to the 
ground with his sword." Thus sporting, more fish would 
be taken in an hour than would suf&ce the party for a 
day. 

On one occasion this amusement had nearly proved fatal 
to our hero. Taking from his sword a stingray — a fish 
the character of which he did not know — '' being much of 
the fashion of a thornback, but a long tayle like a riding 
rodde, whereon the middest is a most poysoned sting, of 
two or three inches long, bearded like a saw on each side" 
— it struck its weapon into his wrist to the depth of nearly 
an inch and a half. No blood or even wound was per- 
ceptible at first, with the exception of a slight blue spot ; 
but the torment was extreme and instantaneous. In four 
hours such was the swollen state of his arm and shoulder, 
and such the condition to which the patient was reduced, 
that his companions concluded he must die. Such was 
his own conviction, and with that exercise of firmness and 
will which seemed to distinguish equally all his actions, 
he chose his place of burial in a neighboring island, 
and there his comrades, with heavy hearts, proceeded to 
prepare his grave. But it was not the will of providence 



204 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

that he should perish thus. There was still work for his 
hands. " It pleased God, by a precious oyle,'' that Dr. 
Russell should finally give relief to the agonizing pain of 
his limb and reduce its swelling, and so far from being 
buried, he survived to revenge himself upon the fish by 
partaking heartily of it that night for supper. The island 
where this occurred, at the north of the Rappahannock, 
still bears, in the name of the fish, the memory of the 
event. 



CHAPTER V. 

The hurt under which our Captain still suffered in some 
degree contributed to the return of the voyagers. But 
for this they might still have loitered along the route for 
further discoveries. Once fairly under M^eigh, Smith con- 
trived to extract from his men all the services of which 
they were capable. 

Their arrival at the Indian settlement of Kecoughtan 
(Hampton) was a subject of surprise to the savages, who 
" seeing our Captain hurt, and another bloody by break- 
ing his shinne, — our number of bowes, arrowes, swords, 
mantles and furrs, would needes imagine we had beene at 
warres." The simple statement of the truth would not 
satisfy them, and finding them resolved on believing no- 
thing less than they fancied, they were fooled by our 
voyagers to the top of their bent. " Finding their apt- 
nesse to beleeve, we fayled not (as a great secret) to tell 
them anything which might affright them, — what spoyle 
we had got and made of the Massawomeks." In the 
same spirit, disguising their bark with painted streamers 
and other devices, our voyagers appeared before the peo- 
ple of Jamestown as a Spanish frigate, and filled them 
with terror for a season. They reached the colony on 
the 21st of July, having been absent twenty days. 

Smith's return to the colony was always seasonable. 
As usual he found things in evil condition. The last 
comers from Europe were all sick ; of the rest some were 
lame and bruised, and all unhappy — all complaining of the 
President. That weak and vicious person had resumed 
18 



206 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

his evil practices, had riotously consumed the public 
stores, had been guilty of needless cruelties, and had 
completed the measure of his follies and offences by task- 
ing the labor of the people in building a sort of pleasure- 
house in the woods for his personal indulgence. But for 
Smith's return, the discontents of the country would have 
summarily revenged themselves upon the offender. Their 
apprehensions were relieved, but their fury scarcely les- 
sened, by the coming of our Captain. The news he 
brought, the supplies, and in particular his own presence, 
which always had the tendency to reassure, the timid and 
desponding, enabled them to forgive the offences of the 
President. But they insisted upon his deposition, and 
required Smith to take upon him the government, " as by 
course it did belong to him." But the mere name o-f 
office was not a temptation to one who sought to perform 
and to achieve, rather than to rule. He preferred the 
more active toils of exploration ; and, resolutely denying 
their entreaties, substituted Mr. Scrivener, whom he calls 
his " deare friend," for himself in the Presidency. Then, 
" in regard of the company, and heate of the yeare, they 
being unable to worke, he lefte them to live at ease, to 
recover their healths," and re-embarked on the 24th of 
July — after a rest of two days only — to finish his dis- 
coveries, taking with him nearly the same persons as 
before. Contrary winds kept them two or three days at 
Kecoughtan, where the king feasted them with much 
satisfaction ; the more particularly as the Indians per- 
suaded themselves that Smith was going on an expedition 
against the hateful Massawomeks. A few rockets which 
he fired in air convinced the terrified savages that their 
new allies were irresistible, and they saw them depart on 
the supposed invasion with the happiest hopes and rejoic- 
ings. The first night, Smith anchored at Stingray Isle, a 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 207 

place memorable in his late experience. The next day 
crossing the Potomac, he made for the river Bolus, other- 
wise Patapsco. This stream, as our voyagers pursued it 
to its sources, was found to divide itself into four heads. 
These they separately followed, exploring them as far as 
their boat could penetrate. Two of these tributaries, the 
Sasquesahanock (Susquehanna) and the Tockwogh (since 
called the Sassafras), they found to be inhabited. In cross- 
ing the bay, they unexpectedly encountered seven or 
eight canoes filled with the renowned Massawomeks, so 
much feared by the Powhatanese, and whom Smith so 
much desired to see. The bold savages prepared at once 
for a conflict, and our Captain was no less prompt and 
decisive. He drew in his oars, and made all sail in pur- 
suit. Some of his men, unaccustomed to the climate, had 
fallen sick " almost to death," since leaving Kecoughtan. 
These were " all of the last supply." They were made 
to lay themselves down in the boat, and were covered 
with the tarpaulin out of all danger. Their hats only 
were made use of. Raised on sticks, a hat between every 
two men, the force of Smith was doubled to the eyes of 
their enemies. He had need of some such ruse de guerre 
to impress the warlike savages with any respect. His 
men able to do battle were but five in number. His bold- 
ness had its effect. Supposing his hats to be men — and 
white men, too, of whom probably vague and very terrible 
accounts had already reached their ears — the formidable 
Massawomeks took to flight, and made with all possible 
speed to the shore. Here they drew up, watchful of all 
the movements of the barge, until she anchored right 
against them. It was difficult to persuade them of the 
pacific intentions of the strangers. There were no Indian 
words known to Smith which they seemed to comprehend. 
None of theirs could be understood. But perseverance 



208 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

and patience produced their usual effects, and two of the 
Indians were moved by signs to approach the whites 
unarmed in a canoe. The rest all followed in their sup- 
port. A present of a bell to each of the first comers, 
brought the rest aboard in the most pacific moods and 
attitudes. They brought venison and bear's flesh to pre- 
sent to the strangers, and even gave them of their bows 
and arrows, their clubs, targets, and bear skins. Smith 
requited them with gifts quite as valuable to them or more 
so. They gave him to understand that they had just been 
fighting with their enemies the Tockwoghs, and showed 
him their green wounds in proof of the seriousness of the 
encounter. The interview was friendly throughout. The 
night separated the parties, and with the morning the 
Massaw^omeks were nowhere to be seen. 

The next day the English proceeded to the country of 
the Tockwoghs. Entering the river of that name, they 
found themselves environed by the savages in a fleet of 
canoes. They were all armed, and had prepared them- 
selves, in all probability, for the enemies from whom 
Smith had just separated. His policy was to conciliate 
this people, and he did not scruple to shape his story for 
this purpose. He displayed the weapons obtained from 
the Massawomeks, and claimed to have taken them in 
battle. The Tockwoghs recognized the spears and the 
shields, the bows and arrows of their most formidable 
opponents, and they welcomed the whites with acclama- 
tions. Conducting them to their hamlet, which was 
palisaded and otherwise strongly fortified, they spread 
their furs and fruits before the strangers. The women 
and children hailed them with songs and dances, and all 
parties strove in every possible way to express the warmth 
and the extent of their gratification. They saw hatchets, 
knives, fragments of brass and iron among these people, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 209 

who said they obtained them from the Sasquesahanocks — 
a nation of Indians who dwelt at the sources of the river 
which bore their name. These they described as a very 
mighty people, and the mortal enemies of the Massawo- 
meks. Smith was curious to see this people. He per- 
suaded his hosts to send a dispatch and invite them to an 
interview. This was done, and after a few days they 
came down, sixty in number, bringing with them gifts of 
venison, tobacco pipes three feet in length, and worthy of 
a sultan, baskets, targets, bows and arrows — all the speci- 
mens of native production which they had to offer. Smith 
describes them as very noble specimens of humanity. He 
speaks of them as a race of giants. " Such greate and 
well proportioned men are seldome scene, for they seemed 
like giants to the English, yea, and unto their neighbours." 
He speaks of them as in other respects the " strangest 
people of all those countries." They were of a simple 
and confiding temper, and could scarcely be restrained 
from prostrating themselves in adoration of the white 
strangers. Their language seemed to correspond with 
their proportions, " sounding from them as a voyce in a 
vault." They were clad in bear and wolfskins, wearing 
the skin as the Mexican his poncho, passing the head 
through a slit in the centre, and letting the garment drape 
naturally around from the shoulders. " Some have 
cassocks made of beares' heads and skinnes, that a man's 
head goes through the skinne's neck, and the eares of the 
beare fastened to his shoulders, the nose and teeth hang- 
ing down his breast, another beare's face split behind him, 
and at the end of the nose hung a pawe ; the halfe sleeves 
comming to the elbowes were the necks of the beares, 
and the armes through the mouth with pawes hanging at 
their noses. One had the head of a wolfe hanging in a 
chaine for a Jewell, his tobacco pipe three quarters of a 
18* 



210 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

yard long, prettily carved with a bird, a deere, or some 
such devise at the great end, sufficient to beat out one's 
braines." 

Such details will be hereafter valuable to the students 
of Acnerican art. The masquerader, whose ambition it 
will be to simulate the barbarous fantasticalities of the 
Sasquesahanocks, need not blunder in his costume. Smith, 
who was a good draughtsman, the circumstances of his 
education considered, has given us a spirited sketch of one 
of these gigantic warriors, " the greatest of them," thus 
attired : — " The calfe of whose leg was three quarters of 
a yard about, and all the rest of his limbes so answerable 
to that proportion, that he seemed the goodliest man we 
ever beheld. His hayre the one side was long, the other 
shore close, with a ridge over his crowne like a cock's 
combe. His arrows were five quarters long, headed with 
the splinters of a white chryslall-like stone, in forme of a 
h-eart, an inche broad, and an inche and a halfe or more 
iono;. These he wore in a wolve's skinne at his backe for 
his quiver, his bow in the one hand and his club in the 
other, as is described." 

It is seldom that we have reason to suspect or accuse 
Smith of exaggeration. For a traveller he is exceedingly 
circumspect. We see no reason to question the perfect 
correctness of this description. In respect to the costume, 
we have abundant proofs of its singular propriety and 
truth. His example here is taken from a remarkable 
instance, even among his people. The Sasquesahanocks 
are all described as above the ordinary size — a very supe- 
rior race of men ; but this, their chief, is great even 
among them. He is as Saul among the Israelites — as 
Goliath among the people of Gath. Pursuing the trade 
of war, in a climate at once mild and invigorating, fed on 
the simplest fruits of the earth, enslaved by no intoxicat- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 211 

ing or enfeebling habits, and constantly exercising in the 
dangers of the field or the sports of the chase all the mus- 
cles of manhoodj we must not wonder that the warrior of 
Virginia towers above the feebler race, whom luxuries 
circumvent and overthrow, as the lap of Dalilah robs the 
son of Manoah of all his strength. Individuals may be 
seen even now, who would compare with our Sasquesa- 
hanock giant. - 

Smith seems never to have neglected the duties of 
religion. His reverence naturally belonged to, and was 
in some measure the source of his earnestness of charac- 
ter. His enterprises did not interfere with the daily rites 
of worship. On the ocean, in the deep forests, his daily 
order was to have prayer and psalm, such as the Christian 
manuals have afforded for a thousand years, suited to all 
the situations and conditions of mankind. This service 
was not foregone because of the presence of the savages. 
Perhaps it was more fervently insisted on for this very 
reason. The Tockwoghs and Sasquesahanocks, much 
edified and wondering, looked on in respectful silence, 
then followed up the holy proceedings by something of 
their own, after a similar fashion. Their hands were 
lifted in a passionate manner to the sun, the visible source 
of energy with all barbarous people. Then followed a 
most '^ fearefull song." The American Indians are not, 
like the Africans, a musical race, though it is very possible 
that our stout Sasquesahanocks sang very nearly as well, 
though perhaps not in so artistical a manner, as our Eng- 
lish. It was the ear of the latter which was not attuned 
to the " native wood-notes wild" of their tawny com- 
panions, In all probability the Tockwogh critics had 
something disparaging to say of the English music, after 
the latter had departed. The song of the savages was 
succeeded by a general embrace of *' our Captaine," whom 



212 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

they would have proceeded to worship as a being of supe- 
rior order but for his decided opposition. Denied to 
worship, they were yet suffered to apostrophize their 
guests, and " with a nnost strange furious action and a 
hellish voice," they made him an oration, expressive of 
their friendship. Then followed the symbolical proceed- 
ings, by which their sentiments were better conveyed than 
through their speeches. They seized upon our Captain, 
covered him " with a great painted beare's skin," hung 
about his neck " a great chayne of white beads, weighing 
at least six or seven pounds, and laid eighteen mantels, 
made of divers sorts of skimies sowed together," with 
many other toys, at his feet. Then while their ceremo- 
nious hands stroked his neck, they tendered him support 
and tribute, and implored him to remain their governor 
and protector. They gave him descriptions of their own 
and the neighboring countries ; " of Atquanachuck, Mas- 
sawomek, and other people," whom they described as 
living " upon a great water beyond the mountains, which 
he understood to be some great lake or the river of 
Canada." 

The Sasquesahanocks were a populous nation, using the 
standards of tribes equally wandering and sterile. They 
could muster six hundred fighting men, and dwelt in 
hamlets which were palisadoed. They were scarcely 
known to Powhatan,* yet were mortal enemies to the 



* And yet, adopting the statements of the Six Nations themselves, 
the latter are assumed to have been the conquerors of the whole 
country, and to have swept with their arms the vast Atlantic ranges 
of the Apalachian chain from Maine to Florida. The pretensions of 
the Six Nations were greatly misunderstood at first ; and they derived 
their titles (by conquest) from the representations of the whites, to 
whom they were required to give titles. The Indian tribes have 
thus repeatedly sold territories on which they themselves had never 
dared to set a foot. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 213 

Massawomekes. From the French of Canada they pro- 
cured their hatchets and other European commodities. 
It was with much difficulty that Smith tore himself away 
from this hospitable and simple people. He left them, 
promising to visit them again next year. 

Returning down the bay to the Rappahannock, our 
party explored every river and inlet of any consequence 
along the route, giving English names to stream and head- 
land, boring holes in trees, in which they left notes or 
memoranda, and raising crosses of wood, and sometimes 
of brass, to signify that possession had been taken of the 
country by English authority. In penetrating the Rappa- 
hannock they were kindly entertained by a people called 
the Moraughtacunds, influenced probably by the presence 
of an Indian named Mosco, whom Smith styles an old 
friend, and who claimed to be a countryman of the whites. 
Unlike the savages, Mosco luxuriated in a fine, black, 
bushy beard, of which he was not a little proud. Upon 
this peculiarity he built, in ranking himself with the 
English. Smith supposed him to have been the son of 
some Frenchman. Mosco took great pride in entertaining 
his countrymen ; brought them wood and water, procured 
them the services of the Indians, and was himself their 
guide throughout the neighborhood. At parting he coun- 
selled them not to visit the Rappahannocks, whom he 
described as hostile to the Moraughtacunds, and would be 
to the English when they knew of their friendship with 
the latter. Smith, suspecting that this representation 
sprung from a desire to secure all their trade for his 
friends, gave it no heed, and crossed the river to the terri- 
tories of the tabooed people. But Mosco was honest. 
Some twelve or sixteen Indians along the shore directed 
the English to the mouth of a creek where there was a 
good landing. Here they found three or four canoes, in 



214 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

which they had put, as so much bait, certain of the usual 
commodities which they gave in barter. But Smith was 
not so easily caught. His custom was, wherever the 
parties were of doubtful faith, to exchange a man as a 
hostage — " in sign of love" — and until they complied with 
this requisition, our Rappahannocks could not persuade 
him to come within their clutches. At length, after some 
consultation, some four or five of them darted up to their 
middles into the creek, bringing with them their hostage. 
They showed our Captain that they had no weapons, but 
he was still distrustful, and while detaining their man, 
sent one of his own. Anas Todkill, ashore to look about 
for " ambuscadoes." Todkill was not suffered to advance 
far, nor did he need to do so, for in a stone's throw from 
the landing he discovered some two or three hundred 
savages in ambush among the trees. His hasty movement 
to return to the boat was intercepted. The Rappahan- 
nocks, perceiving that their design was discovered, 
attempted to carry him off perforce ; and in the same 
moment the Indian left as a hostage in the boat sprang 
overboard, but was slain the next moment in the water. 
A volley from the barge scattered the savages, and Tod- 
kill escaped their clutches. Several of the Indians were 
hurt, some slain ; but though more than a thousand arrows 
were sped from their bows in an inconceivably short space 
of time, none of the English were hurt. The targets of 
the Massawomeks were found eminently useful for their 
protection. But for the timely employment of these they 
might have been far less fortunate. 

These targets are described as " made of little small 
sticks woven betwixt strings of their hempe and silke 
grasse, as is our cloth, but so firmly that no arrow can 
pierce them." The canoes and arrows captured in this 
conflict were reserved for Mosco and the Moraughtacunds, 



' LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 215 

by whom the return of the English was hailed with a 
trumpet. The targets of the Massawomeks had served 
such an admirable purpose, that Smith fastened them 
around the sides of the barge, so that they might afford a 
permanent protection in like dangers hereafter. The con- 
ception was a fortunate one. The very next day, in their 
progress up the river, Mosco being at his own request one 
of their company, they passed an ambush of thirty or 
forty Rappahannocks, who, taking advantage of the shelter 
of a marsh, at a spot where the river was particularly 
narrow, " had so accommodated themselves with branches 
as we tooke them for little brushes growing among the 
sedge-." The arrows flew from invisible hands against 
the Massawomek targets, and but for Mosco our English 
would have been at a loss to guess whence they issued. 
Hiding his favorite whiskers in the bottom of the boat, he 
told them where to look for their subtle enemies, who 
were again the Rappahannocks. With the discharge of 
the first volley from the barge, the green bushes fell down 
among the sedge, and the ambush disappeared. " When 
we were' neare halfe a myle from them they showed 
themselves, dancing and singing very merrily." 

They met with nothing but kind treatment from the 
several tribes whom they encountered in their farther 
progress up the river. But their company was lessened 
by the death of Richard Featherstone, who sunk under 
the fever of the climate. He was buried, with a volley 
of shot, on the shores of a small bay, which was called by 
his name. Smith speaks of him as a worthy person, who 
had behaved himself " honestly, valiantly, and industri- 
ously," while he had been in the country. The other 
members of the expedition, who had been taken sick after 
leaving Kecoughtan, had all recovered their health. The 
toil, exposure, and trouble of such an enterprise as that 



216 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

in which, they were engaged at the hottest season of the 
year, in a close vessel, would seem to be unfavorable to 
the convalescence of the sufferer, or even to the continu- 
ance in health of those not sick ; but they suffered far 
less from disease than those who remained at Jamestown, 
— as probably would always be the advantage of those who 
lead an active life, over those who indulge in one of indo- 
lence. 

There was no indolence where Smith had command. 
The next day, urging their boat as far up the river as the 
stream would carry it, he went ashore, set up crosses, 
and cut their names upon the trees. While thus engaged 
the sentinel was astonished by an arrow falling heside 
him. Yet where a savage could hide himself they knew 
not, for an hour had been spent in examining the spot, 
groping in the earth, gathering herbs and stores, and seek- 
ing for springs of sweet water. But instantly taking the 
alarm, they found themselves assailed by no less than a 
hundred savages, who, skipping nimbly from tree to tree, 
kept up an incessant flight of arrows. The assailants 
were too timid, and shot too wildly to do much injury ; 
and, after a skirmish of half an hour, they disappeared as 
suddenly as they came. Mosco played the hero on this 
occasion, emptying his quiver, flying to the boat for fresh 
supplies, and gallantly leading off* the pursuit against the 
fugitives. But it was with some difficulty that he could 
be kept from playing the savage also ; for, coming upon 
one of their enemies who had been wounded by a musket 
bullet in the knee, " never was dog more furious against 
a beare, than Mosco was to have beate out his braines." 
This was not approved of, as scarcely a Christian process. 
The wounded savage was dressed by the surgeon of the 
English, and so recovered as to be able to give an account 
of himself and people. He belonged to the Hassinninga, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 217 

was a brother of the chief of that tribe, which, with three 
others, made up the nation of Mannahock. He had heard 
that the English were a people come from under the 
world to take their world from them. Some of this was 
certainly true, and possibly the whole. When asked how 
many worlds there were, he answered that he knew of 
none but that which lay under the sky above them, of 
which he had been taught to believe that the Powhatan- 
ese, the Monacans, and the Massawomeks, were the sole 
inhabitants. The Monacans, he said, were the neio-hbors 
and friends of his people. They dwelt in hilly countries, on 
the banks of small rivers, and lived upon roots and fruits, 
but chiefly by hunting. The Massawomeks dwelt upon a 
great water, had many boats, and so many men that they 
made war with all the world. When asked what was 
beyond the mountains, he replied, " The sun !" Other 
questions of the sort he answered in like manner. It was 
evident he knew little of such unimportant matters. This 
prisoner was named Amoroleck — not a bad name for a 
romantic story of the school of Chateaubriand. They per- 
suaded him to go with them, rather than kept him ; though 
he earnestly desired them to remain where they were, that 
they might make, on better terms than before, the acquaint- 
ance of his people. 

But all this was opposed by Mosco. He was impatient 
of the dialogue, which to his ears was no doubt tedious. 
But he better knew the savage nature than the English, 
and warned them that their delay would endanger their 
safety. He described the Mannahocks as a naughty race, 
as troublesome and treacherous as the Rappahannocks. 
Still, they lingered until night ; then embarked, and took 
their way down the river. It was not long before the 
arrows of the Indians were heard rattling upon the Massa- 
womek shields, and dropping into the bai-ge. The stream 
19 



218 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

"was narrow, the land on one side high, and but for the 
darkness, our English might have suffered seriously from 
this mode of assault. It was in vain that Amoroleck 
called to his countrymen. The yells of the assailants 
silenced all other sounds, except that of the musket, which 
every now and then Smith caused to be discharged against 
the quarter whence the clamor rose most loudly. So 
tenacious were they of the conflict, that they followed the 
course of the boat in this manner for nearly twelve miles. 
By daylight the English, emerging into a spacious bay, 
dropped anchor, and fell to breakfast, being only then out 
of arrow-shot. The savages, four or five hundred in num- 
ber, crowded the banks, but the party was quite too hun- 
gry and too tired to notice them till after breakfast. Then 
taking down their shields, they showed themselves with 
their prisoner, between whom and his countrymen follow- 
ed a long discourse. This led to a proper understanding 
between the parties. The Indians hung their bows and 
arrows upon the trees, while two of them, their bows and 
quivers upon their heads, swam off to the barge, bringing 
these as tributes and in proof of friendship. Smith 
promptly went ashore, and bade them summon their kings. 
These were at no great distance. The word King, as 
employed by our author, must be understood in the sense 
of chief. The chiefs were the captains of tens, and hun- 
dreds, and thousands, and led the several war parties of 
the nation under the rule of some one great master like 
Powhatan. 

These soon made their appearance, four in number, 
according to the requisition of Smith. They received 
Amoroleck at his hands with great rejoicing. They ten- 
dered their bows, arrows, tobacco-pipes, and pouches, 
refusing nothing that was demanded. They, in turn, 
asked for nothing but the pistols of the English, which 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 219 

they took to be pipes of a highly improved fashion. But, 
with less dangerous commodities, Smith left them per- 
fectly happy in their new allies ; singing, dancing, and 
making merry as they went. 

The victory of our captain over the Mannahocks, and 
the subsequent pacification with them, highly delighted 
the Moraughtacunds ; who were a feeble race, of smaller 
persons, and fewer numbers. They entreated him to 
endeavor to bring the Rappahannocks to their senses also ; 
a benefit in which, as the allies of the English, they must 
necessarily share. Smith needed no entreaties to this 
effect. Though by no means wanton in the exercise of 
power, by no means blood-thirsty, but, indeed, singularly 
indulgent and forbearing, though decisive with the sava- 
ges — he yet felt the necessity of making his power res- 
pected by all the tribes in the neighborhood. He sum- 
moned the Rappahannocks, accordingly, to a conference, 
at which several of the Indian kings attended ; and giving 
them a judicious preliminary hint of his power to burn 
their hamlet, destroy their corn, and prove in other res- 
pects a very troublesome enemy to deal with, he demand- 
ed that they should bring him — in proof of friendship and 
by way of tribute — the bow and arrows of their king ; 
should leave their arms on coming into his presence ; 
make a treaty of peace with his allies, the Moraughta- 
cunds ; and as a guaranty for the faithful keeping of these 
pledges, bring him the son of the king as a hostage. 
Rappahannock — for the name of the people seems to have 
been that of the king — objected to the last condition. He 
had but one son and could not live without him ; but in 
lieu of the son, he was not unwilling to give up to the 
Moraughtacunds certain women of his whom the latter 
had stolen — a proceeding which had been at the bottom 



220 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

of their recent wars Our Captain was indulgent, and 
readily accepted the substitute. 

Having returned to Moraughtacund, he had the three 
women brought before him, and put a chain of beads upon 
the neck of each. Then calling up the king Rappahan- 
nock, he bade him choose her whom he most desired ; the 
second choice was accorded to the king of the Moraugh- 
tacunds, and the third woman was allotted to Mosco with 
the whiskers, the suspected Frenchman. The parties 
were all apparently well satisfied with this mode of dis- 
tribution. The proceedings finished only with the night. 
The next day the people of both the tribes, or nations, to 
the number of six or seven hundred, assembled to cele- 
brate the triple peace which had thus been established by 
means of the stranger. Not a bow nor arrow was to be 
seen amongst them : all the shows and images of war 
were studiously kept from sight. They pledged them- 
selves to perpetual friendship with the English ; volun- 
teered to plant corn for them ; and were delighted with the 
promise that, in return, they should receive ample sup- 
plies of hatchets, beads, and copper. Mosco, whom 
these proceedings had greatly distinguished, in the heat 
of his exultation, repudiated that inexpressive name, and 
adopted that of Uttasantough, which, in his dialect, sig- 
nifies " stranger ;" and the supposed son of the French- 
man became the subject of the English Solomon.* 

From the Rappahannocks our Captain steered his ves- 
sel to the Piankatank, which he explored as far as it was 
navigable. This river seems to have been sparsely set- 
tled. Smith describes it as being able to bring into the 
field but fifty or sixty serviceable men. At the period of 
his visit, however, the people were mostly absent on a 



Kinsr James the First. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 221 

hunt. He saw but a few old men, women, and children, 
in the cornfields, from whom he obtained a promise of 
supply whenever he should come for it. 

He now took his way home ; and on his returning pro- 
gress W'as destined to encounter a more narrow peril than 
any he had yet escaped on the expedition. While in the 
direction of Point Comfort, he anchored in a bay called 
Gosnolds, a little to the south of York River. Here, in 
an instant, a sudden gust changed a fair calm sky into one 
of night and tempest. So terrible was the storm, with 
rain and thunder, that our Captain confesses for the party 
they never more expected to see Jamestown. Running 
before the wind, they could sometimes see the land by 
the fiery flashes from heaven ; and by this light only were 
they saved from splitting upon the shores, and finally con- 
ducted — the storm and blackness still prevailing — in find- 
ing their way to Point Comfort. Verily, it deserved the 
name in the regards of our voyagers. There, having 
refreshed themselves, and the skies becoming clear, they 
once more set out, resolved to finish their adventures by 
visiting the Chesapeakes and Nasemonds — tribes of 
which they had only heard, but which, as among their 
near neighbors, it was deemed more proper they should 
know than those which were more remote. Steering for 
the southern shore, they penetrated the river now called the 
Elizabeth, upon which the town of Norfolk now stands, 
and sailed some six or seven miles into the territories of 
the Chesapeake. But they saw none of the inhabitants ; 
nothing more imposing than a few houses and garden- 
plots, and forests, " overgrowne with the greatest Pyne 
and Firre trees we ever saw in the country." Returning 
to the main stream, they coasted the shores to the mouth 
of the Nansemond, where they came upon half a dozen 
savages mending their fish-traps. These fled at sight of 
19* 



2.22 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

the strangers. The English landed and left some trifles, 
as a peace-offering, where the Indians had been working. 
They had not gone far, when the Indians returned, found 
the toys, and with great gladness and good humor invited 
the strangers to come back. They did so, and thus began 
an intimacy which ended in our voyagers turning their 
prow into the river, which they penetrated some seven or 
eight miles, the Indians keeping pace along the shore with 
the progress of the vessel. One of the savages freely 
entered the boat, and the rest made an abundant display 
of good feeling. The sight of large cornfields on the 
western shore rewarded our explorers with the prospect 
and promise everywhere of great plenty of provisions. 
Their Indian companion invited them to his habitation on 
a little islet in the river, where they saw his wife and 
children, to whom they gave such presents as greatly con- 
tented them. Thus far all things looked smilingly enough. 
But when their companion had left them, and they had 
left his islet, and in a farther progress up the stream, they 
found it became exceedingly narrow, things began to look 
suspiciously, and our voyagers prepared for the worst. 
They soon found themselves followed by seven or eight 
armed canoes, full of people, and this discovery was fol- 
lowed by flights of arrows from the shores on each side 
of the river, as rapidly shot as two hundred practised bow- 
men could send them. The canoes opened upon our 
English at the same moment. Smith addressed most of 
his muskets to the assailants on the river. It was more 
immediately necessary to remove them from his path. A 
volley soon drove them from their canoes — most of them 
taking to the water and swimming to the shore. A few 
shot forced those upon the banks into the cover of the 
woods, and the English took possession of the canoes 
which they had abandoned. These they drew with them 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 223 

down the river, where it was sufficiently wide to put them 
out of reach of arrow-shot. Here they proceeded to cut 
the captured canoes to pieces ; at sight of which the 
Indians — supposed to be the Chesapeakes and Nansemonds 
together — by whom the shores were crowded, threw down 
their weapons, making signs of peace and entreaty. To 
this our Captain had no objections. But he had condi- 
tions. He required the bow and arrows of their king, a 
chain of pearls, and four hundred full bushels of corn ; and 
upon their rejection of these conditions, he threatened not 
only the destruction of their canoes, but of all their houses 
and possessions. Their compliance was prompt. "Away 
went their bows and arrowes, and tagge and ragge came 
with their baskets." The English took as much as they 
could carry. They had suffered no injury in the contest, 
thanks to the targets of the Massawomeks. These were 
pierced by more than one hundred arrows. Parting with 
these cunning savages on friendly terms, our Captain now 
made his way to Jamestown, which he reached on the 
7th of September, having been more than six weeks 
absent. 

In these two voyages he had explored the whole Bay 
of Chesapeake ; an excellent map of which he construct- 
ed, which still remains to us. Upon his own computa- 
tion he had traversed more than three thousand miles. 
He had incurred a thousand perils, and passed throuojh 
them all in safety ; had suffered with his men a thousand 
hardships and privations, which were all endured with 
patient courage and uncomplaining fortitude. We must 
not undervalue these expeditions because they are asso- 
ciated with no event of singular magnitude ; the slaughter 
of no multitudes, and the sacking of no glorious city. In 
the absence of all those startling catastrophes, which too 
much make and characterize the renown of conquerors, 



224 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

the achievements of our hero, on these occasions, were 
not less remarkable. By none but a very remarkable 
man could they possibly have been done. No disaster 
marks his progress. He sheds no unnecessary blood ; 
but wins his followers along through all difficulties, among 
a barbarous people, neither vexing or fatiguing the one, 
nor provoking the hate and jealousy of the other. The 
vulgar captain, conscious of the superiority of his muskets 
over the naked savages, would have tracked his way 
in slaughter. As prompt in danger as the bravest. Smith 
rather draws off from the strife, and folds his arms until 
he finds conflict unavoidable. He prefers the milder 
course of treaty and expostulation, and gives the ignorant 
natives time to discover for themselves the superior power 
which he possesses. His courage and moderation — the 
skill and ingenuity with which he works himself into the 
confidence of the simple Indians — the good nature with 
which he smiles upon and sanctions their sports — the 
curiosity with which he listens to their histories, and 
studies their character — and the felicity and great correct- 
ness with which he notes all their peculiarities — these 
proofs alone of the great strength of his natural judgment 
and genius, and the extent of his experience and resources, 
shown on this single progress, should sufficiently entitle 
him to rank among the distinguished men of modern 
times. No man was ever more successful with the 
Indians. He admirably understood their character, and 
treated it with equal firmness and forbearance. To deal 
with them, as with his ow^n followers, required the hap- 
piest discretion. The latter, sick and suffering, strangers 
in a strange land ; sometimes refractory and unwilling, 
and always inferior to himself in ability and spirit ; requir- 
ed equally to be subdued and soothed ; to be restrained 
and goaded ; to be upheld by his courage, and stimulated 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 225 

by his enterprise. The successful termination of the 
adventure is in proof of the excellence of his manage- 
ment ; while the details of his daily progress sufficiently 
show that this success was due, not to mere luck or blind 
fortune, but to the admirably executive mind by which 
the whole progress was conceived and counselled. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The return of Smith to the colony was always seasonable. 
The withdrawal of his stern authority and undiscriminat- 
ing justice, was always sure to result in evil. Nothing 
had been done in his absence. The crop had been gather- 
ed by the diligence of Scrivener, but the provisions in 
store had been suffered to spoil with rain. Captain Rat- 
cliffe, the late President, had not borne with becoming 
meekness his exclusion from office, and was now laid up 
for mutiny. The summer had been a sickly one. Most 
had been sick, many had recovered, some were still sick, 
and many were dead. Nothing had been done, except by 
the small party under Smith. 

Three days after his return he was elected to the Presi- 
dency, having received the letters patent from the coun- 
cil. He had hitherto refused this office, in the teeth of 
frequent importunacy on the part of his friends. He could 
refuse it no longer. His authority was no less necessary 
to the success of the settlement than his courage and 
enterprise. This conviction being forced upon him by a 
succession of proofs. Smith entered upon his duties with 
becoming resolution. The church and storehouse were 
repaired ; new buildings raised for the supplies momently 
expected from England ; the fort strengthened and altered 
into " a five square forme ;" the watch renewed ; and the 
whole company was drawn out every Saturday and drilled 
in military exercises, " in the plane by the west bul- 
warke," which was prepared for that purpose, and called 
Smithfield. On such occasions the Indians would gather 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 227 

around in great numbers to witness the display, standing 
*' in amazenment to behold how a fyle would batter a tree." 
Nor did Smith confine his regards wholly to the strength- 
ening and improving of the immediate settlement. He 
repaired his boats, and sent forth a trading party under 
Lieutenant Percy, with instructions to seek the country 
of the Monacans. But Percy had not gone far before he 
met Captain Newport, just from England, with fresh sup- 
plies, and came back with him to the fort. Newport 
brought with him about seventy individuals ; two of 
whom, Captain Richard Waldo, and Captain Wynne, " two 
ancient souldiers, and valiant gentlemen, but yet ignorant 
of the businis," were appointed members of the council. 
In this ship came also the first Englishwomen that ever 
were in Virginia, Mrs. Forrest, and Anne Burras, her 
maid. A few more women had been a more judicious 
contribution to the wants of the colony than some that 
were made. But the Company were unwisely counselled, 
and the new supply, instead of bringing with it comfort to 
our Captain, brought with it little else than annoyance. 
The instructions given to Captain Newport were of a sort 
to offend the common sense of any man having the expe- 
rience and the knowledge of Smith. They betrayed a 
singular degree of ignorance as to the nature of the defi- 
ciencies, the feebleness, and the true wants of such a 
colony. A special commission was confided to him, 
authorizing him, in certain circumstances, to act inde- 
pendently of the council in Virginia. By this commission 
he was instructed not to return without a lump of gold, a 
certainty of the South Sea, or one of the lost company 
sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh.* Requisitions, a rigid 



* The lost colony of Captain White, which had been left on the 
island of Roanoke, had disappeared, leaving no traces, and was 
probably cut off by the Indians. 



228 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

endeavor to comply with which might have kept the 
worthy mariner going to and fro through the territories 
of Powhatan to the present day. These instructions were 
probably of his own head. He had obtained the ear of 
the Company in England, and originated all these inven- 
tions. We have heard and seen something of this per- 
son before, in his visit to Powhatan. He is described, 
and seemingly with great justice, as an empty, idle, and 
selfish adventurer ; very great in his own conceit, and 
swelling in his talk at ordinary seasons, but timorous and 
suspicious in moments of danger, and totally unequal to its 
exigencies. " How or why Captaine Newport obtained 
such private commission, as not to returne without a 
lumpe of gold, a certaintie of the South Sea, or one of 
the lost companie sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh, I know 
not ; nor why he brought such a five peeced Barge, not 
to beare us to that South Sea, till we had borne her over 
the mountaineSj which howfarre they extend is yet unknowne.'^'* 
Such, indeed, had been one of the ridiculous projects of 
Newport and the Company, the absurdity of which our 
Captain exposes in a single sentence. A barge had been 
actually constructed and sent out in pieces from England, 
to be carried upon men's shoulders over the mountains of 
Virginia, to the waters of the South Sea. The idea was 
taken from the proceedings of Cortes, in manufacturing 
his brigantines at Tlascala, and sending them on the backs 
of tamanes to the Mexican lakes. But Cortes, before he 
did so, knew where to seek for his lakes, and just how far 
they were distant from his brigantines. But our Virginia 
Company knew no more of the space between the domi- 
nions of Powhatan and the South Sea, than they did of the 
mountains in the moon. This was not the only absurdity. 
Some score of foreigners, Poles and Dutchmen, were sent 
out on wages, for the purpose of manufacturing pitch, tar, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 229 

glass, milles, and soap-ashes ; — objects, says Smith, wliich, 
" when the country is replenished with people and neces- 
saries, would have done well, but to send them and sea- 
ventie more, without victualls, to worke, was not so well 
advised nor considered of as it should have beene." The 
folly of the company and their adviser did not stop here ; 
and the next proceeding of which Smith justly complains 
was one likely to be productive of a great deal of mis- 
chief, as tending to elevate the self-esteem of those very 
persons who were already proud enough, and whom it 
was the English policy to make subordinate. Certain 
expensive presents were sent out for Powhatan, and orders 
were issued for his formal coronation as a Prince, after 
the European fashion. This was a mischievous, as well 
as ridiculous mummery, and vexed the good sense and 
solid understanding of our hero. " As for the coronation 
of Powhatan," says he, " and his presents of bason and 
ewer, bed, bedstead, clothes, and such costly novelties, 
they had much better well spared than so ill spent, for 
wee had his favour much better onely for a playne peece 
of copper, till this stately kind of soliciting made him so 
much overvalue himselfe, that he respected us as much as 
nothing at all." 

But Newport had his commission and his crown, and 
the coronation and all other follies were to be achieved or 
attempted. He accordingly summoned the council toge- 
ther, and unfolded his powers and his schemes together. 
It is needless to say that Smith opposed them as equally 
unwise and impracticable. He urged his views of the 
impolicy of all these projects with his wonted force and 
earnestness. His objections have already in part been 
given. There were others which he urged before the 
council. It was sufficiently hard, he argued, to feed two 

hundred additional mouths, with the provisions obtained 

20 



230 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

with difficulty for one hundred and thirty only ; but even 
this was comparatively a small objection to that which 
could be urged against the great loss of time consumed in 
these idle performances. " For wee had the salvages in 
tliat decorum (their harvest being newly gathered) that wee 
feared not to get victuals for 500. Now was there no 
way to make us miserable," he asks, " but to neglect that 
time to make provision whilst it was to be had, the which 
was done by the direction from England^ to performe this 
strange discovery, but a m.ore strange coronation, to loose 
that time, spend what victuails wee had, tyre and starve 
our men, having no meanes to carry victuals, munition, the 
hurt or sicke, but on their own backs ?" 

But the arguments of Smith were unavailing. The 
majority of the council were against him. Scrivener him- 
self desired to see new countries ; Waldo and Wynne, the 
newly arrived, were anxious to carry out the wishes of the 
Company in England ; and even RatclifTe, who had been 
laid by the heels for mutiny, was permitted to have a 
voice on the occasion, which was naturally adverse to the 
suggestions of Smith. Captain Newport, whom our Cap- 
tain charged with the conception of all these projects, " so 
guilded men's hopes with great promises," that his reso- 
lutions were adopted. Smith, in language almost borrow- 
ed from divine lips, exclaims mournfully, '■'■ God doth 
know they little knew what they did, nor understood their 
owne estates," to adopt his conclusions. To Smith's 
objections about waste of time and lack of provisions, 
Newport pledged himself to freight the pinnace with 
twenty tons of corn while going on and returning from 
his discovery, and to procure a similar supply from Pow- 
hatan at Werovvocomoco. He promised also to divide 
with them the ship's stores ; and when Smith shook his 
head with doubt at these fair promises, he meanly insinu- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 231 

ated that the opposition of our Captain arose only fronri a 
selfish wish to undertake the adventure himself to the 
exclusion of others ; and, seizing upon an old charge 
which had been made against him in the time of Captain 
Martin, said that nothing, indeed, could prevent the suc- 
cess of the expedition but the desire of the savages to 
revenge the cruelties which Smith had practised upon 
them. To this the answer of our Captain was sufficiently 
conclusive ; not only as showing his innocence of this 
charge in particular, but to prove that he was in every 
respect willing to facilitate the enterprise, the moment it 
was fully resolved upon. He was not the man to throw 
any obstacles in the way of a scheme, which he yet felt 
himself compelled to disapprove ; and exhibited none of 
that sullen inactivity, by which inferior men passively 
retard what they can no longer actively oppose. He 
volunteered to visit Powhatan with only four companions 
— " where Newport durst not goe with less than 120" — 
to entreat the Indian monarch to come to Jamestown to 
receive his presents, and undergo the ceremonial of coro- 
nation. His offer was accepted. The small party went 
over land to Werowocomoco, but Powhatan was some 
thirty miles distant. He was immediately sent for, and 
Pocahontas, in the meantime, undertook to entertain the 
guests of her father. 

She did this after a fashion of her own, and which, for a 
moment, proved rather startling to some of the English. 
Conducting the party to a " fayre plaine" in the woods, 
they were placed upon mats around a fire. This done, 
Pocahontas disappeared, and suddenly a hideous shrieking 
arose from the woods, which caused the party to leap 
to their feet, prepare their weapons, and seize upon two or 
three old men who had remained with them as securities 
for their safety. They looked momently to see Powhatan 



232 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

and all his power emerge from the woods upon them. In 
place of these, however, Pocahontas showed herself, to 
reassure them. She was greatly discomposed that her 
sports, innocently meant, should have caused alarm, and 
placing herself among the English, she bade them kill 
her if any evil was intended. Men, women, and children, 
flocked around them at the same time, to confirm the assur- 
ances of the sweet forest damsel whom they served. Our 
Captain was soon satisfied that there was nothing to be 
apprehended. But his companions were mostly fresh from 
England, and his seizure of the old men as guaranties and 
hostages was most probably an act meant only to give 
them confidence. They resumed their places upon the 
matting, Pocahontas placing herself among them, while 
a pageant after a primitive fashion — a masque, shall we 
call it, of the Powhatanese ? — took place, sufficiently new 
to the strangers, but one which did not greatly delight 
their tastes. We are reminded, as we read, of some of 
the orgies of nymphs and satyrs, such as the old drama- 
tists used to exhibit in their " daintie dev^ises." The 
scene was opened by the appearance from the woods of 
thirty young damsels, who, clad only in green leaves, 
came boldly forth as from the hands of original nature — 
with the single exception, that where their skins were 
visible through the leaves they were decorated with paints 
of various colors. The style of costume in each, not to 
fall into an Hibernianism, differed from that of her com- 
panions. No two of them were painted alike. " Their 
leader had a fayre payre of buck's homes on her head, 
and an otter's skinne at her girdle, and another at her 
arme, a quiver of arrowes at her backe, and a bow and 
arrowes in her hand." How easy to fancy this the Diana 
of Werowocomoco } Others carried other implements 
and ornaments, all of which may have been emblematical, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 233 

but all were alike horned, and, to our English companions, 
horrible. The language in which our author speaks of 
their exhibition smacks of the puritan rather than the 
gallant or the adventurer. He calls them '' fiends," and 
describes their shrieks and shouts as " hellish." They 
darted headlong from among the trees, cast themselves 
frantically in a passionate set of antics about the fire, and, 
according to our narrator, played the part of Bacchantes 
to perfection. In such maddening manner did the light- 
heeled and light-handed damsels of Cyprus hail the ascent 
and approach of their reeling deity. " Singing and daunc- 
ing with most excellent ill varietie, oft falling into their 
infernall passions, and solemnly againe to sing and daunce," 
they consumed about an hour in their fantastic exhibi- 
tion, then disappeared among the trees as suddenly and 
strangely as they had entered. But this scene did not 
end the " Mascarado." Having invited Smith and the 
rest to their lodgings, our masquerading dames changed 
the character of their sports, and from being wild and 
furious before, they became tender and solicitous. But 
the proceedings in the latter were not more grateful than 
in the former character, and our Captain complains that 
he was now more than ever tormented by their fondling 
and embraces. They hung upon him, crowding and press- 
ing, as do the nymphs who would tempt Robert le Diable 
in the opera, crying out — " most tediously," says our 
hero — ^' Love you not me ? Love you not me .^" 

Poor Pocahontas ! little did she fancy that her primitive 
forest fancy would have had so unpleasing effect upon her 
English favorites. Whether our courtly Captain allowed 
her to see or to suspect his own, and the annoyance of his 
companions, is not stated. At all events, she continued 
her efforts, in the absence of her father, to amuse and 

to delight her guests. The masque being over, the 
20* 



234 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

feast was set — " consisting of all the salvage dainties they 
could devise : some attending, others singing and dauncing 
about them," — the whole mirth and festival being ended 
by their seizing upon blazing firebrands, and conducting 
them, in a sort of royal state, to the lodgings which had 
been prepared for them. The scene, making allowances 
for the ruder tastes of a savage people, was perfectly 
feminine, and is not without its sweetness and its charm. 
A little subdued by the hand of art, the poet may yet 
weave it into some lovely native fabric. Pocahontas does 
not appear to have engaged in this frolic, except to com- 
mand it, and she commanded only such pranks as they 
were no doubt accustomed to practise in the presence of 
their noblest guests. 

Powhatan made his appearance the next morning, and 
Smith apprised him of the presents and the honors that 
awaited him at Jamestown, desiring him to return with 
him, and receive them at the hands of Father Newport. 
The answer of Powhatan was becoming equally the mon- 
arch and the man. It betrayed also something of the 
sagacity of the politician. A natural and proper caution 
was no doubt busy with the self-esteem and pride of cha- 
racter of the haughty savage, in prompting his reply. 

" If," said he, " your king has sent me presents, I also 
am a king, and this is my land. Eight days will I stay to 
receive them. Your father is to come to me, not I to 
him, nor yet to your fort. I will not bite at such a 
bait." 

To some suggestions which Smith had made, touching 
a concerted operation between them against the Monacans, 
and in respect to the meditated journey over the mountains 
to the South Sea, he answered with equal decision : 

" As for the Monacans, I can revenge my own injuries. 
As for Atquanachuck, where you say your brother was 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 235 

slain, it is a contrary way from those parts you suppose it. 
For any salt water beyond the mountains, the relations 
you have had from my people are false !" 

Could any answer from any monarch have been more 
frank and manly, and characterized by more dignity of 
character? To illustrate the truth of his disclaimer on 
the subject of the salt water beyond the mountains, he 
drew upon the ground a rude outline of the countries of 
which himself and his people had spoken. He was by 
no means churlish or reserved, though decisive in his 
answers. On the contrary, the discourse between the 
parties, which was protracted, was marked throughout by 
courtesy and kindness on both sides ; — both Smith and 
Powhatan being pretty equally skilled in the arts of diplo- 
macy. 

The arguments of our Captain failed to procure any but 
the one answer from the Virginian Emperor, on the subject 
of the coronation presents. They were accordingly sent 
by water, while Smith and Newport, with an escort of 
fifty men, went across by land to Werowocomoco. Here 
Powhatan awaited them in all his state, and the next day 
was appointed for the performance of the ceremony which 
had been the occasion of the interview. We can readily 
conceive the importance which such a man as New- 
port attached to these proceedings, and with what state the 
guards were arranged, and the several marshals appointed 
to tjjeir places ; with what solemn dignity the presents were 
brought forth; the bason and ewer, the bed and its royal 
furniture set up, and the scarlet cloak, apparel and crown, 
got in readiness to invest the tawny limbs and forehead of 
the forest chieftain. Our authorities afford us but few 
details, but these give a sufficient clue to the imagination 
of the reader. Powhatan seemed somewhat suspicious of 
these presents. The bason and ewer looked innocent 



236 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

enough ; so perhaps did the bed and furniture ; but the 
scarlet cloak had something in its aspect which he did 
not so much relish. He had never heard of the fate of 
Hercules, but he evidently had some notion of the dangers 
which might accrue from wearing the cast off clothes of 
Nessus ; and it required all the assurances of Namontack, 
the faithful Indian whom he had entrusted with Newport 
to visit England, and who had just returned, to persuade 
him that there was nothing deadly in the garment. It was 
with much ado they succeeded in getting the scarlet 
robe over his shoulders. But as for kneelino; to receive 
the crown, that he could not do. He was not used to 
such humiliation, and no argument could reconcile him 
to it. He neither knew " the majesty nor meaning of a 
crowne," and after " a foule trouble" which they had, 
and which " tyred them all," they only succeeded in their 
object at last " by leaning hard upon his shoulders," so 
that " he a little stooped," and this gave them a moment's 
opportunity to place the kingly circle over the unwilling 
brows. When this curious operation in crowning a king 
had reached this stage of the business, a pistol-shot gave 
the signal to the boats, which poured forth a volley of 
musketry in honor of the event. Newport, as we see, 
had arranged the details with great regard to the solemnity 
and state of the occasion But Powhatan, suspecting 
danger at every step in the affair, was prepared to find 
anything but compliment in this salute, and behaved, when 
the shot struck upon his ears, in a most unroyal manner — 
starting to his feet, and, until the matter was explained, 
showing no small degree of apprehension. Reassured by 
our Captain, he recovered himself sufficiently to perform 
an act which, under like circumstances, would have been 
characteristic of most sovereigns in any part of the world. 
To show his gratitude, he gave his old shoes and mantle 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 237 

to Captain Newport, who, we may willingly allow, had 
justly merited them. To this liberal present was added 
another, just before the parties separated, of seven or eight 
bushels of corn. The English derived very little farther 
advantage from this vain and paltry proceeding. For his 
own reasons, which were no doubt quite satisfactory to 
himself, Powhatan refused to join with them against the 
Monacans, whom he had heretofore pronounced his ene- 
mies ; refused to give them guides to the territories of 
that people ; and earnestly endeavored to dissuade them 
from their purposes of hostility. Thus ended the expe- 
dition. In good hands, what a ludicrous picture might be 
made of this coronation of Powhatan ; — the reluctant 
savage pressed down by the shoulders, while the three 
Englishmen, with the crown aloft, standing on tiptoe, seize 
the lucky moment to drop the shining honor upon his 
brows ! 



CHAPTER VIL 

The refusal of Powhatan to furnish guides, and his evident 
reluctance to encourage any further exploration into his 
territories, did not discourage Captain Newport in his me- 
ditated progress in search of the country of the Monacans. 
Snmith in vain strove to divert him from a purpose, the 
fruits of which, according to his prediction, would be only 
toil and suffering. But the idea of gold dust and gold 
mines, which had seized upon the soul of the good sea cap- 
tain, made him insensible to every argument founded upon 
reason and experience. To use the verses which Smith 
employs in this place, and which, for aught we know, 
may be from his own pen — 

" Bat those that hunger seeke to slake, 
Which thus abounding wealth woulde rake, 
Not all the gemmes of Ister's shore, 
Nor all the gold of Lydia's store, 
Can fill their greedie appetite. 
It is a thing so infinite." 

Leaving behind him eighty or ninety men with Smith, at 
Jamestown, to load the vessel, Newport, w^ith one hundred 
and twenty, set forth, soon after his return from the visit to 
Powhatan, upon his expedition into the wilderness. But 
his course through the woods proved to be no such plea- 
sant sailing, and a journey of forty miles, which consumed 
nearly three days, found our adventurers in no humor to 
proceed further. They made no discoveries, got no gold, 
saw nothing to recompense their labor. Two Indian 
towns of the Monacans were discovered, in which they 
could procure grain for neither love nor money. The 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 239 

savages, anxious to be rid of their presence, yet afraid to be 
hostile, treated them with sullen indifference, and frightened 
them with a story of strange ships, which, since their de- 
parture, had penetrated to Jamestown with the view to its 
conquest. They had hidden their corn, and could not be 
tempted by any offers of trade to betray its hiding-place to 
the greedy strangers. This treatment, and the fatigue 
which they suffered from a mode of journey to which they 
were wholly unaccustomed, soon reconciled our delicate 
English to the necessity of foregoing those wonderful dis- 
coveries upon which Newport had set his heart ; and, bur- 
dened with some shining earths in which their refiner pre- 
tended to discover silver, they turned their faces once 
more to the settlement. Smith sneers at so sudden an 
abandonment of a progress through a country equally fair, 
fertile and well watered ; but the result was only what he 
had predicted. They reached Jamestown, " halfe sicke, 
all complaining, and tyred with toyle, famine and discon- 
tent" — wiser, perhaps, but scarcely grateful for an acqui- 
sition so very different from any which their golden hopes 
had promised. 

Smith, had little sympathy for the adventurers. They 
had no sooner reached the town, when he set such of 
them as were able to labor, each according to his peculiar 
ability, in procuring the necessary commodities for freight- 
ins: the vessel. Some were set to the manufacture of 
glass, others of tar, pitch, and potash, and these were 
placed under the control of the council ; while he himself, 
with thirty others, leaving Jamestown, proceeded down 
the river to a proper spot in the forest, where he could 
teach them the art of felling trees, making clap-boards, and 
sleeping in the woods. Smith was the proper leader to 
convert into hardy and enterprising men the puny and 
effeminate " younger sons" who were sent to him from 



240 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

England. He himself shrunk from no toil, and no expo- 
sure. Neither danger nor labor discouraged his manhood; 
and, with his example before them — that of grappling 
always with the worst and most difficult parts of duty — 
his followers were deprived of all excuse for complaint or 
discontent. But the employment had its pleasurable 
excitements. The novelty had its charm, and their tasks 
soon became familiar. '' Strange were these pleasures to 
their conditions ; yet lodging, eating, and drinking, work- 
ing or playing, they but doing as the President did him- 
selfe. All these things were carried on so pleasantly, as 
within a weeke they became masters ; making it their 
delight to heare the trees thunder as they fell." And a 
stirring sound it is : but the delight of our amateur wood- 
cutters had its disagreeables also. " The axes so oft 
blistered their tender fingers, that many times every third 
blow had a loud othe to drowne the echo." For this 
immorality, which our hero seems to have held in con- 
siderable dislike, he adopted a novel remedy. Each 
man's oaths were numbered by his companions, and when 
the labor of the day was over, for every oath, a can of 
cold water was poured down the sleeve of the offender. 
He himself was not exempt from this penalty, — which 
seems so completely to have had the effect desired, that 
an oath was scarcely to be heard in a week. " By this," 
says our author, " let no man thinke that the President 
and these gentlemen spent their times as common wood- 
haggers at felling of trees, or such other like labours ; or 
that they were pressed to it as hirelings, or common 
slaves ; for what they did, after they were but once a 
little inured, it seemed, and some conceited it, only as a 
pleasure and a recreation : yet thirty or forty of such 
voluntary gentlemen would doe more in a day than one 
hundred of the rest, that must be prest to it by compul- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 241 

sion." We may add that much of this would be due to 
the skill of him who had the direction of their labors. 
The hearty zeal with which Smith set the example — his 
own spirit, promptness and energy — and the excellent 
humor and judgment with which he planned the penalties 
of neglect or ill-performance, — these were the essential 
influences by which to make those work, whom more 
severity would have only driven into rebellion. Had 
Smith played the martinet with his volunteers, as the 
drill sergeant of the regular service is wont to do, he 
might have had their axes about his ears. Still, though 
pleased with the spirit and industry of his men, our hero 
quietly adds, that " twentie good workmen had been better 
than them all." 

Returning to the fort, Smith was vexed to find that 
the time had been consumed, and no provisions procured. 
The ship lay idle at a great charge, and her men did. 
nothing. Without wasting more time in unprofitable com- 
plaints, his indefatigable spirit at once proceeded to remedy 
this new evil. Embarking in the discovery barge, and 
leaving instructions for Lieutenant Percy to follow in 
another, he set out for the people of Chickahominy. 
'■' That dogged nation was too well acquainted with our 
wants, refusing to trade with as much scorne and insolency 
as they coulde expresse." But Smith was in no humor 
to submit to denial or ill-treatment. The exigency at 
Jamestown was pressing. Besides, he perceived that the 
countenance of Powhatan was turned away from the 
colony ; that it was his policy to starve them out ; and 
that the time had at length arrived, for making such a dis- 
play of his power, as would compel a return of that res- 
pect, on the part of this savage monarch and his people, 
as would ensure the future safety of the English. Chang- 
ing his tone accordingly, he told the Chickahominies that 
21 



242 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

he did not so much come for their corn as for his revenges. 
He had an old account to settle with them. His own 
imprisonment had never been atoned for, nor the murder 
of his people ; and it was his humor now to take ven- 
geance upon them for both these occasions of complaint. 
Landing his men, and making ready to charge the savages, 
they took to their heels, and sought the cover of the 
woods ; from whence they sent him an embassy, laden 
with corn, fish, and fowl, as a tribute to the offended 
strangers. They implored peace and pardon ; excused 
themselves for their refusal to grant supplies, alleging, by 
way of extenuating themselves, that their harvests that 
year had been inferior ; but concluded with freighting both 
barges with ample provisions. 

Returning to Jamestown with this store, the fruit of his 
own energy and decision, Smith found himself more likely 
to suffer from the malice than be honored by the grati- 
tude of his associates. It seems to have been his peculiar 
fortune in Virginia so to provoke the envy of his col- 
leagues as to make them wholly blind to their dependence 
upon his abilities. Indeed, these very abilities, which so 
completely obscured their own, were the subject of their 
reproach and aversion. Radcliffe, who had proved him- 
self imbecile while President ; Newport, who had so re- 
cently verified by his own failure the good judgment and 
the predictions of our hero ; would both much rather have 
hazarded starvation than that " his paines should prove so 
much more effectuall than theirs " Accordingly, as blind 
as bitter in their malice, they actually laid their heads 
together, not only to deprive him of the presidency on the 
wretched plea that he had left the fort without consent of 
Counc;], even though in the common exigency and for the 
common good, but they made an effort to keep him out of 
the fort also. But, to use the expressive language of our 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 243 

author, " their homes were much too short" to effect their 
object. They themselves narrowly escaped a greater mis- 
chief. Our hero was no trifler when his wrath was roused, 
" and had not Captain Newport cried pcccavi^ the Presi- 
dent would have discharged the ship, and caused him to 
have stayed one yeare in Virginia to learne to speake of 
his owne experience." We are not told of the manner in 
which Smith extricated himself from these attempts of his 
enemies ; but the common conviction of his merits, his 
skill, spirit and invariable successes, set in contrast with 
the uniform feebleness of those who were envious of his 
abilities, naturally secured him the support of all the colony. 
To a certain extent, such an establishment in a foreign 
land must be influenced by popular feeling and opinion ; 
and, hated by some of his associates. Smith was sustained 
by all his followers. Besides, he was not wholly alone in 
the council ; and, among the chief persons of the settlement, 
Scrivener, Percy, Waldo, and others, were his staunch 
friends and advocates ; and it appears to have been easy to 
baffled the malice of Newport and his more worthless 
ally, Radcliffe. But, though able to protect himself, and 
to maintain his authority against their machinations, he 
was much less successful in preventing the illicit traffic 
which was carried on between the sailors, the colonists, 
and the savages. " All this time our olde taverne (the 
ship) made as much of all of them that had either money 
or ware as could be desired. By this time they were 
become so perfect on all sides (I meane the souldiers, 
saylers and salvages), as there M^as ten times more care to 
maintaine their damnable and private trade, than to pro- 
vide for the colony things that were necessary. Neither 
was it a small policy in Newport and the marriners to 
report in England we had such plentie, and bring us so 
many men without victuals, when they had so many pri- 



244 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

vate factors in the fort, that, within six or seaven weekes, 
of two or three hundred axes, chisels, hows (hoes) and 
pickaxes, scarce twentie could be found : and for pike- 
heads, shot, powder, or any thing they could steal from 
their fellowes was vendible ; they knew as well (and as 
secretly) how to convey them to trade with the salvages 
for furres, baskets, mussanaksy young beasts, or such like 
commodities, as exchange them with the saylers for butter, 
cheese, beefe, porke, aqua vHce,^ beere, bisket, oatmeale, 
and oyle : and then faine all was sent them from their 
friends. And though Virginia afforded no furres for the 
store (i. e. for the benefit of the owners), yet our master 
in one voyage hath got so many by this indirect meanes, 
as he confessed to have sold in England for thirty 
pounds." 

These extracts give a lively idea of the extent of the 
peculation which Smith for a time vainly struggled to 
prevent. As lively an idea of the indignation which he 
felt may be gathered from another passage, where he 
seems to indicate his success in putting an end to it ; and 
shows, at the same time, the sort of obstacles which 
usually serve to impede and baffle all such enterprises. 
" These," says he, speaking of the peculators, " are the 
saint-seeming worthies of Virginia, that have, notwith- 
standing all this, meate, drinke and wages ; but now they 
begin to grow weary (of saint-seeming), their trade being 
both perceived and prevented ; none hath beene in Vir- 
ginia that hath observed any thing, which knowes not this 
to be true ; and yet the losse, the scorne, the misery and 
shame, was the poore officers, gentlemen and carelesse 
Governours, who were all thus bought and sold ; the 
adventurers cousened, and the action overthrowne by their 
false excuses, informations and directions. By this let 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 245 

all men judge how this businesse could prosper, being 
thus abused by such pilfring occasions." 

The indignant temper which is here displayed is more 
appropriately shown by our hero in a letter which he 
addressed to the Treasurer and Council of the Plantation, 
in England, in the character of President of the settle- 
ment. He answers the false reports at the expense of 
the colony, set afloat by selfish and interested persons, and 
briefly, but amply, shows what have been and are the true 
evils and evil influences which have baflEled the hopes and 
efforts of the colonists. His letter speaks for itself, and 
for the good sense, the clear judgment, and the unselfish 
manhood of the writer. From the tenor of the answer, 
the reader will sufficiently gather the sort of reports detri- 
mental to the settlers, which had been circulated in 
England ; — reports, which the disappointments of the coun- 
cil, with regard to the results of their outlay, made them 
but too ready to believe. It was much easier and far 
more grateful to suppose that the failure lay rather in the 
misconduct and disobedience of the agents, than in the 
errors and absurdity of their own schemes. They com- 
plained of the vain hopes with which they had been fed, 
and of the factions which defeated the performances of 
the colony ; and concluded with threatening, that, unless 
the proceeds of the return voyage of Newport's ship 
should defray the expenses of her outfit — some two thou- 
sand pounds — they would abandon the settlement to its 
fate. It was with this threat to stimulate him, that New- 
port set out seeking mines of gold and silver in the coun- 
try of the Monacans ; while Smith, with more sagacity 
and industry, proceeded to hew trees, get out clapboards, 
and freight the vessel with pitch, tar, glass and potash. His 

letter accompanied the cargo. We furnish it at length : 
21* 



246 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

'''Right Honourable^ SfC. I received your letter, where- 
in you write, that our minds are so set upon faction, and 
idle conceits in dividing the country without your con- 
sents, and that we feed you but with ifs and ands, hopes 
and some few proofes ; as if we would keepe the mystery 
of the businesse to ourselves ; and that we must expressly 
follow your instructions sent by Captain Newport : the 
charge of whose voyage amounts to neare two thousand 
pounds, the which, if we cannot defray by the ship's 
returne, we are alike to remaine as banished men. To 
these particulars I humbly intreat your pardons if I offend 
you with my rude answer. 

" For our factions, unlesse you would have me run away 
and leave the country, I cannot prevent them : because I 
do make many stay that would els fly any whether. For the 
idle letter sent to my Lord of Salisbury, by the President 
and his confederats, for dividing the country, &c., — what 
it was 1 know not, for you saw no hand of mine to it, nor 
even dreamt I of any such matter. That we feed you 
with hopes, &c. — Though I be no scholar, I am past a 
schoolboy ; and I desire but to know, what either you, and 
these here doe know, but that I have learned to tell you by 
the continuall hazard of my life. I have not concealed from 
you any thing f know ; but Ifeare some cause you to believe 
much more than is true. 

" Expressly to follow your directions by Captaine 
Newport, though they be performed, I was directly against 
it ; but according to our commission I was content to be 
overruled by the major part of the councell, I feare to ihe 
hazard of us all ; which now is generally confessed when 
it is too late. Onely Captaine Winne and Captain Waldo 
I have sworne of the councell, and crowned Powhatan 
according to your instructions. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 247 

*' For the charge of this voyage of two or three thousand 
pounds^ we have not received the value of an hundred pounds. 
And for the quartred boat to be borne by the souldiers 
over the falles, Newport had 120 of the best men he could 
chuse. If he had burnt her to ashes, one might have carried 
her in a bag, but as she is, five hundred cannot, to a naviga- 
ble place above the falles. And for him at that time to 
find in the South Sea a mine of gold ; or any of them sent 
by Sir Walter Raleigh : at our consultation I told them 
was as likely as the rest. But during this great discovery 
of thirtie myles (which might as well have been done by 
one man, and much more, for the value of a pound of 
copper at a seasonable tyme) they had the pinnace and all 
the boats with them, but one that remained with me to 
serve the fort. In their absence I followed the new begun 
works of pitch and tarre, glasse, sope ashes and clapboard, 
whereof some small quantities we have sent you. But if 
you rightly consider what an infinite toyle it is in Russia 
and Swethland, where the woods are proper for naught 
els, and though there be the helpe both of man and beast 
in those ancient commonwealths, which many an hundred 
yeares have used it, yet thousands of those poore people 
can scarce get necessaries to live, but from hand to mouth. 
And though your factors there can buy as much in a week 
as will fraught you a ship, or as much as you please ; you 
must not expect from us any such matter, which are but 
as many of ignorant miserable soules, that are scarce able 
to get wherewith to live, and defend ourselves against the 
inconstant salvacres : finding here and there a tree fit for 
the purpose, and want all things els the Russians have. 
For the coronation of Powhatan, — by whose advice you 
sent him such presents, I know not ; but this give me 
leave to tell you, I feare they will be the confusion of us 



24S LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

all ere we heare from you agane.* At your ship's arrivall 
the salvages' harvest vv^as newly gathered, and we going to 
buy it, our owne not being halfe sufficient for so great a 
number. As for the two ships loading of corne Newport 
promised to provide us from Powhatan^ he brought us but 
fourteen bushels, and from the Monacans nothing, but the 
most of the men sicke and neare famished. From your 
ship we had not provision in victuals worth twenty pound, 
and we are more than two hundred to live upon this : the 
one halfe sicke, the other little better. For the saylers 
(I confcsse) they daily make good cheare ; but our diet is 
a little meale and water, and not sufficient of that. Though 
there he fish in the sea, Joules in the aire, and beasts in the 
woods, their bounds are so large, they so wilde, and we so 
weake and ignorant, we cannot much trouble them. Cap- 
tain Newport we much suspect to be the author of those 
inventions. Nov), that you should know, I have made you 
as great a discovery as he, for lesse charge than he spendeth 
you every meale ; I have sent you this mappe of the hay and 
rivers, with an annexed relation of the countries and nations 
that inhabit them, as you may see at large.'f Also two 
barrels of stones, and such as I take to be good iron ore at 
the least ; so divided, as by their notes you may see in 
what places I found them. The souldiers say many of 
your officers maintaine their families out of that you sent 



* Already, before the ink was dry on Smith's letter, we find it writ- 
ten — "Master Scrivener was sent with the barges and pinnace to 
Werowocomoco, where he found the salvages more readie to fight 
than trade," &c. 

t Already referred to, A remarkably well executed chart, sin- 
gularly correct, considering the difficulties and disadvantages of the 
explorer; and an admirable proof of the equal zeal, courage and 
abilities of our adventurer. The accompanying narrative is equally 
valuable and remarkable. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 249 

US : and that Newport hath an hundred pounds a yeare 
for carrying newes. For every master you have yet sent 
can find the way as well he, so that an hundred pounds 
might be spared, which is more than we have all, that 
helps to pay him wages. Capt. Radcliffe is now called 
Sicklemore, a poore counterfeited imposture. I have sent 
you him home, least the company should cut his throat. 
What he is now, every one can tell you : if he and Archer 
returne againe they are sufficient to keepe us alwayes in 
factions. When you send againe I entreat you rather 
send but thirty carpenters, husbandmen, gardiners, fisher- 
men, blacksmiths, masons and diggers up of trees' roots, 
well provided, than a thousand of such as we have ; for 
except we be able both to lodge them and feed them, the 
most will consume with want of necessaries before they 
can be made good for any thing. Thus if you please to 
consider this account, and the unnecessary wages to Cap- 
taine Newport, or his ships so long lingering and staying 
here (for notwithstanding his boasting to leave us victuals 
for 12 months, though we had 89 by this discovery lame 
and sicke, and but a pint of corne a day for a man, we 
were constrained to give him three hogsheads of that to 
victual him homeward), or yet to send into Germany or 
Poleland for glasse men and the rest, till we be able to 
sustain ourselves, and releeve them when they come, — it 
were better to give five hundred pound a tun for these 
grosse commodities in Denmarke than send for them 
hither. Hill more necessary things be provided. For in 
over toyling our weake and unskilful bodies, to satisfie 
this desire of present profit, we can scarce even recover 
ourselves from one supply to another. And I humbly 
intreat you hereafter, let us know what we should receive, 
and not stand to the saylers courtesie to leave us what 
they please, else you may charge us what you will, but 



250 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

we not you with any thing. These are the causes that 
have kept us in Virginia from laying such a foundation, 
that ere this might have given much better content and 
satisfaction ; but as yet you must notlooke for any profita- 
ble returne : So I humbly rest." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

This bold and manly letter was dictated by a sense of 
suffering and injustice, and somewhat by a consciousness 
of exigency. It has devolved upon " our Captaine," as 
we have seen, on almost all occasions, to procure and to 
provide, at the hazard of his own repose and life, the 
greater portion of the food by which the hungry mouths 
of the colony were satisfied. The ships had brought him 
consumers, and nothing more. The stores which they fur- 
nished were soon exhausted, equally by their own waste, 
and by the new colonists whom they brought. Seventy 
persons came with Newport on his last voyage, and were 
left as burdens to the colonists, who, as Smith states in 
his letter, was compelled to supply the ship's crew return- 
ing home with a portion of their slender store of provision. 
Of the new comers, thirty were gentlemen, fourteen were 
tradesmen, twelve were laborers, two were boys, eight were 
Dutchmen and Poles, sent out to make potashes ; and 
there were two women, " Mistresse Forrest, and Anne 
Burras, her maide." The latter was, shortly after her 
arrival, married to John Laydon, a carpenter, who had 
been in the colony from the beginning ; and this was the 
first marriage of Europeans that ever took place in Vir- 
ginia. With this new and numerous supply of gentlemen, 
added to the already large proportion of the same unpro- 
ductive sort of population, our Captain might well become 
affrighted at the new charge upon the feeble resources of 
the colony. The tone of his letter is enlivened by the 
sense of wrong done to the really industrious and adven- 



252 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

turous portions of the settlement ; and he might well be 
roused at the monstrous expense of two thousand pounds, 
to be liquidated by the colony, incurred in compliance 
with the absurd suggestions and dishonest counsels of 
Newport and Radcliffe — crowns, and robes, and wash- 
basins, to the dusky potentate of Werowocomoco, and 
searches after the South Sea in the wigwams and forests 
of the people of Monacan, 

The seventy newly arrived had increased the number 
of the colony to two hundred persons. It had been found 
exceedingly difficult to provide for half that number, as 
the chief supplies of food were drawn from the Indians. 
These seldom planted more land than would yield pro- 
vision for their own tribes, and though profligate enough 
to sell when under great temptation, they were now too 
familiar with the necessities and with the commodities of 
the English, not to value their own very highly. Besides, 
Powhatan was no longer disposed to encourage the growth 
of a strange people on his soil, whose resources were so 
great, and whose numbers he saw so constantly increas- 
ing. The colonists themselves, mostly dissipated and idle 
adventurers, unaccustomed to labor, and very soon j^ielding 
to the prostrating influences of the summer climate in 
Virginia, had at no time been able to raise an adequate 
supply of food for their own consumption. The late sea- 
son, which had been laboriously employed by Smith in 
exploring the Chesapeake and the contiguous rivers, had 
been consumed by Radcliffe, then in the Presidency, in 
idleness and peculation. We have seen the waste which 
followed the arrival and the detention of Kenton and his 
floating tavern. At his departure, the destitute condition 
of the colony, doubly burdened with its new mouths, dis- 
tressed and alarmed " our Captaine." " These poore 
conclusions so affrighted us all with famine," that he 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 253 

determined on an expedition to Nansemond in search of 
supplies. It will be recollected the fright he gave to this 
people while on his exploring voyage, threatening to burn 
their villages in consequence of their treachery, and receiv- 
ing from them a promise of four hundred bushels of corn 
whenever he should next visit them. The necessities of 
the colony moved him to remind them of their promise. 
But they had entirely forgotten it ; treated him very 
coldly ; and not only withheld the required tribute, but 
positively refused to trade with him on any terms. They 
excused themselves for this refusal, by alleging that they 
had no provisions to spare, and that Powhatan had com- 
manded them not only to keep their grain, but not to allow 
the English to enter their river. Smith, after vainly 
endeavoring to reason them into a more friendly disposi- 
tion, brought his muskets to bear upon the argument. 
This drove them to the thickets, without discharging an 
arrow. But this brought " our Captaine " no nigher to 
his objects, and, putting the torch to one of their houses, 
he signified to them that such should be the fate of all 
unless the grain was forthcoming. This brought them out 
of covert. The argument was effectual ; and, on condition 
that he should " make no more spoyle," they loaded the 
three boats which he brought, before night. " How they 
collected it," says our author, " I know hot." Content 
with their atonement, and the quantity of grain which 
they furnished. Smith forbore farther severities, and, on 
the strength of his forbearance, they promised to plant a 
crop purposely for the English. 

That night, our hero, with his party, dropping a few 
miles down the river, so as to place his boats and supplies 
in safety, went ashore, and made their beds at the foot of 
a hill, in the open woods. The ground was covered with 

snow, and frozen hard. They dug a space in the snow, 

22 



254 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

and built a fire. When the heat had sufficiently dried the 
spot, they threw off the fire, swept the ground, and cover- 
ing it with a mat, slept as warmly and pleasantly as if 
they had been in a palace. " To keepe us from the 
winde we made a shade of another mat ; as the winde 
turned we turned our shade ; and when the ground grew 
cold we renewed the fire. And thus many a cold winter 
night have we laine in this miserable manner ; yet those 
that most commonly went upon those occasions were 
always in health, lusty and fat." These are encouraging 
facts, which the luxurious world are slow to understand. 
We have yet to learn how much the vigor and the elas- 
ticity of the human frame depend upon a free and hearty 
commerce with the air we breathe, and with the elements 
which enter into our composition. 

The toils and perils of such a mode of life, the severities 
and caprices of the seasons, had no discouragements for 
" our Captain." Scarcely had he brought these supplies 
in safety to Jamestown, than he was off on another expe- 
dition, having the same object. This time, proceeding up 
the bay in two barges, he found himself avoided by the 
jealous savages. They fled on every side at his appear- 
ance, until he came to the river and people of Appamat- 
tox ; with these he traded, with copper, for a small sup- 
ply of corn, and returned to Jamestown to discover that 
Scrivener and Percy, who had also gone abroad on a 
similar quest, had returned with even smaller results than 
himself ; having procured nothing. 

These disappointments troubled our hero. The pros- 
pects were discouraging. Time was lost unprofitably, the 
savages were rapidly consuming the provision which was 
to supply the colony, and the winter, only just begun, 
promised to be a severe one. Smith's feelings of disquiet 
assumed a harsher aspect when he beheld the reluctance 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 255 

of the Indians to receive him — when he found them flying 
at his approach, and heard from their own lips that they 
were commanded by Powhatan to treat him as an enemy. 
He resolved to strike at the root of the evil — to single out 
the one superior offender over all, and, by a striking ex- 
hibition of his power, convince the natives that he was no 
longer to be trifled with. He resolved to surprise Powha- 
tan, and take possession of all his provisions. It does not 
need that we should argue for the morality and justice of 
this decision. The discussion would carry us quite too 
far from our narrative, and beyond our limits. The case 
seems to have been one of necessity, and Smith was de- 
termined not to starve. He consulted with his counsel, 
but their opinions were divided. Scrivener and Winne, 
influenced by instructions from England, where, at that 
time, they were particularly tender of the sacredness of 
the rights of the royal person, were opposed to the project. 
Captain Waldo alone sided with him. Smith's reasons 
were those of Cortes and Pizarro. He felt their impor- 
tance, the exigency of the necessity, and was not to be 
driven from his purposes. It happened, just at this time, 
as if to favor his design, that Powhatan dispatched a mes- 
senger to our hero, inviting him to come and see him. 
The emperor wished for workmen to build him a house 
after the English fashion. He also desired a grindstone, 
fifty swords, some guns, and other articles, for which he 
was wilhng to give a ship-load of corn. Powhatan had set 
his heart upon the swords and grindstones. We have 
already seen the endeavors which he made to procure 
them from Smith and Newport. With the latter he was 
successful ; but the former was less easily persuaded to 
provide his treacherous enemy with better weapons of 
warfare than those to which he was accustomed. It is 
probable that the instructions given by Powhatan to his 



256 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

people, to refuse all commerce with the English, had no 
higher motive than so to reduce them by their exigencies 
as to compel Smith to trade with him on his own terms. 
Knowing that the several attempts of the colonists to pro- 
cure grain had been baffled by his instructions, and having 
learned how eager they were in the pursuit of provisions, 
he fancied that the time had arrived when he might pro- 
cure the objects which he desired at his own price ; and 
hence his proposition, and hence his invitation to Smith to 
visit him. But the latter was disposed to suspect some 
more profound design at the bottom of this invitation. He 
well knew the devices and subtlety of the Indian heart, 
and, regarding only his more obvious policy, such as it 
would have been in the case of an European potentate, he 
found in it a full justification for his ov*'n project. He 
complied in part with the request of Powhatan ; sent him 
four Dutch and two Englishmen to build his house, and 
prepared himself to visit him. But the swords were for- 
gotten. Setting forth with the pinnace, two barges, and 
forty-six men, all volunteers, he left Jamestown for Wero- 
wocomoco some time in December.* His company was 
victualled for but three or four days, and lodging the first 
night with the king of Warraskoyack, at a short distance 
from Jamestown, they received from him ample additional 
supplies. This chief counselled Smith against visiting 
Powhatan, whom he described as meditating the most 
cruel treacheries, sending for the English only to cut their 
throats and seize their arms. But, though thanking him 
for his advice, Smith resolved against taking it. From 
this king he obtained guides to the dominions of another 
named Chawannock, whose territories lay in the fork of 

* The narrative says the 29th, but, as he afterwards tells us of spend* 
ing Christmas among the Indians of Keeoughtan, this must be an 
error. The matter is of little moment. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 257 

Chowan, between the rivers Nottoway and Meherin. 
With these he dispatched one Michael Sicklemore, whom 
he describes as " a very valiant, honest, and painful soldier." 
His object in sending this gentleman was threefold. He 
was to conciliate the friendship of the king of the Chowan- 
nocks, obtain some specimens of silk grass, and make in- 
quiries after the lost company of Mr. Walter Raleigh. On 
leaving the king of Wanaskoyack, Smith left with him his 
page, Samuel Collier, in order that he should learn the 
Indian language. 

From Wanaskoyack Smith next proceeded to Kecough- 
tan (Hampton). Here they were detained by storms for 
several days. They kept their Christmas — never more 
merrily — among the Indians, who feasted them upon 
oysters, fish, flesh and wild-fowl, in abundance. Better 
cheer and kinder welcome they never enjoyed. The yule- 
log had never burned for them more brightly in England, 
than in the smoky cabins of the Kecoughtan. Departing 
thence, it was not so agreeable to resume their ancient 
practice, so productive of health and fat, of lying in any 
weather by a great fire at the foot of a tree, and with no 
roof but that of heaven. To afford an idea of the abundance 
of wild fowl encountered on the route, during this severe 
season, we are told that the president, with Anthony Bag- 
nail and Serjeant Pising, killed a hundred and forty-eight 
at three shots. Wild pigeons are probably meant. At 
Kiskiack, the extreme cold and bad weather, together with 
a desire to ^' suppress the insolency of these proud savages," 
prompted them to delay three or four days longer, and it 
was not till the 12th of January that they reached Wero- 
comoco. Here winter awaited them with more than usual 
severity of aspect, as if in alliance with Powhatan. The 
river was frozen for a space of half a mile from the shore. 

But Smith's hardihood was not to be discouraged. To 

22* 



258 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

lose no time, having broken through the ice with the barge 
as far as this was possible, he taught his followers by his 
own example, '' to march neare middle deep, a flight shot 
(an arrow shot), through this muddy, frozen ooze." Thus 
he gained the shore in safety with his men, and, quartering 
in the nearest cabins, sent to Powhatan for provisions. 
The Emperor very promptly supplied him in abundance 
with bread, turkeys and venison. The next day he re- 
ceived and feasted them after his ordinary manner, which, 
as we have seen in repeated instances, was not unworthy 
an Indian sovereign. But, the feast over, to the surprise 
of Smith, he inquired, with rare inhospitality, when he 
proposed to depart. The explanation which followed be- 
trayed the duplicity of the savage nature. Powhatan de- 
nied that he had ever sent for him. He had no corn to 
spare, and his people less. Some forty baskets, indeed, 
might be had, but for these he required forty swords. 
Smith, in reply to this, coolly confronted him with the men 
by whom his message had been brought. When asked 
how he could be so forgetful, he " concluded " the matter 
with a merry laughter, and asked for his commodities. 
But none of these suited him. His desires were set only 
upon guns and swords, and, rejecting the copper with con- 
tempt, which was offered for his corn, he said that he could 
put a value upon his corn, not on the copper. 

'' Our Captaine " soon saw that the wily savage was 
trifling with him. He was not much in the mood for 
trifling, and, with some decision, he gave him to understand 
that his guns and swords might be bestowed upon him 
after a different mode from that which he desired. " Pow- 
hatan," said he, " though I had many courses to have made 
my provision, yet, believing your promises to supply my 
wants, I neglected all to satisfie your desire and to testify 
my love. I sent you my men for your building, neglecting 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 259 

mine own ; what your people had you have engrossed, 
forbidding them our trade ; and now you think by con- 
suming the time, we shall consume for want, not having to 
fulfil your strange demands. As for swords and guns, I 
told you long ago, I had none to spare ; and you must know 
those I have can keep me from want : yet steale or wrong 
you I will not, nor dissolve that friendship we h^ve mu- 
tually promised, except you constrain me by your bad usage^ 

Powhatan listened very attentively to this discourse, and 
promised, in reply, that within two days Smith should have 
all the corn which it was in his own and the power of his 
people to bestow. " Yet, Captaine Smith," he added, 
"some doubt about the motive of your coming hither 
makes me not so kindly seeke to relieve you as I would, 
for many doe inform me your coming hither is not for 
trade, but to possess my country and invade my people. 
These dare not come to bring you come, seeing you thus 
for ever armed. To free us of this feare, leave your wea- 
pons aboard your vessel. Here, where we are all friends, 
they are wholly needless." 

The frankness of Powhatan's speech was associated 
with quite too much wariness of conduct to disarm the 
caution of " our Captaine," with whom he contrived to 
confer throughout the day, in the same style and in ex- 
cellent good humor. They were both politicians equally 
skilled and subtle, — each having a secret purpose, which 
he could only execute by first baffling the other's vigilance 
and circumspection. But the game was rather more in- 
telligible and clear in the hands of the Indian emperor than 
in that of our hero. The latter little dreamed that he had 
been betrayed to Powhatan by the very persons whom he 
had sent to build his palace. Four of these, as we have 
seen, were Dutchmen. One of them, in particular, in con- 
sequence of his great spirit, judgment, and resolution, was 



260 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

SO great a favorite of Smith, that he had, in fact, sent him 
as a sort of spy upon his enemy, to discover and report his 
secret machinations. Of the man's honesty, Smith had 
not the slightest doubt, and six months elapsed from the 
period of these proceedings before he was put in poss(;ssion 
of the proofs of his villany. But he, as well as the other 
foreigners, were bought over by the artifices of Powhatan. 
The Dutchmen found plenty in the huts of the savage, 
having left an empty granary behind them at Jamestown. 
They were soon apprised of Powhatan's preparations to 
surprise and destroy the English, and became persuaded, 
knowing little (as late comers) of the prowess of Smith, 
that the colony must succumb between the joint assaults 
of the savages and famine. Their social sympathies were 
not more active in behalf of the English than of the Indians, 
and they found it little difficult to unite their fortunes with 
the one, rather than share the seemingly certain fate of the 
other. Powhatan was accordingly possessed of all the 
schemes of Smith, while conferring with him on the most 
amicable footing. 

That night, " our Captaine " quartered in the wigwams 
of the king, and the next day their conferences were re- 
sumed. These were enlivened slightly by a languid trade, 
which Powhatan suffered, most likely, in order to prevent 
suspicion. Inthistrade the English succeeded in getting ten 
measures of corn for a copper kettle which the king seemed 
greatly to affect. But the people brought no corn, and 
the gist of Powhatan's discourse seemed chiefly intended 
to persuade our hero to lay aside his weapons and his cau- 
tion. The ingenuity and talents of the Indian king are 
apparent in the following discourse. 

" Captain Smith," said he, " I have seen the death of 
three generations of my people. I am a very old man, and 
know the difference between peace and war better than 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 261 

any person in my country. I must die ere very long, and 
would wish to bequeath to my brethren and successors my 
experience of these things, along with your friendship. 
But this hint from Nansemond that your purpose is to 
destroy my people, alarms both them and me. It is for 
this reason that we dare not visit you. Now, what will 
it avail you to take by force that which you may quickly 
have by love, or to destroy the very hands that bring you 
food ? What can you get by war, when it is so easy for 
us to fly beyond your reach, and hide our provisions in 
the woods ? By wronging us, you only famish yourselves. 
And why thus jealous of our love .'* Are we not unarmed 
among you, and willing still to supply your wants ? Think 
you I am so simple not to know how much better it is 
to eat good meat, sleep in security with my women and 
children, laugh and enjoy myself with you, and, being 
your friend, procure the things I wish, than, as your 
enemy, be forced to fly from all ; to lie cold in the woods, 
feed upon roots and acorns, and be so hunted by you all 
the while as to be able to enjoy neither rest, food, nor 
sleep ; with my tired people watching around me, and so 
anxious and apprehensive, that, if a twig but break, every 
one crieth out, ' There cometh Captain Smith ?' Thus, 
with a miserable fear, flying, I know not whither, I must 
soon end a miserable life, leaving my possessions to such 
youth as yourself; who, through rashness, seeking that 
which you know not where to find, may also as quickly 
come to a like miserable end. Let us be wiser. Let 
these words assure you of my friendship. We shall trade 
as friends hereafter. Only come to us without your 
swords and guns as if you looked for an enemy, and we 
will furnish you with corn." 

The excellent reasoning embodied in this speech did not 



262 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

blind Smith to the old king's subtlety. His answer was 
couched in the following terms : 

" Seeing you will not rightly conceive of our words, 
we strive to make you know our thoughts by deeds. The 
vow I made you of my love, both myselfe and my men 
have kept. As for your promise, I find it every day vio- 
lated by some of your subjects. Yet we, finding your 
love and kindnesse, our custom is, so far from being un- 
grateful, that, for your sake onely, we have curbed our 
thirsty desire of revenge ; els had they knowne as well 
the crueltie we use to our enemies, as our true love and 
courtesie to our friends. And I thinke your judgment 
sufficient to conceive, as well by the adventures we have 
undertaken, as by the advantage we have (by our armes) 
of yours, that, had we intended you any hurt, long ere 
this we could have effected it. Your people coming to 
Jamestowne are entertained, with their bowes and arrowes, 
without any exceptions : we esteeming it with you as it 
is with us, to wear our armes as our apparell. As for the 
danger of our enemies, in such warres consist our chiefest 
pleasures. For your riches we have no use. As for the 
hiding your provision, or your flying to the woods, we 
shall not so unavoidably starve as yoa conclude. Your 
friendly care in that behalfe is needlesse, for we have a 
rule to find beyond your knowledge.^'' 

In this style and spirit their dialogue continued, varied 
only by a little trade, which Powhatan seemed to permit, 
the better to beguile his adversary. But the wariness 
with which Smith maintained his guard baffled the objects 
of the savage ; who, with a deep sigh, at last thus openly 
reproached our Captain with his strictness and vigilance : 

" Captain Smith, I have never treated any Werowance* 

* Werowance, or Chief. Smith, it must not be forgotten, v;as 
made a Werowance of Virginia by Powhatan, 



LIFE OP CAPTAIN SMITH. 263 

with so much kindness as yourself; yet from you 1 have 
received but little in return. From Newport I had what 
I wished ; swords and copper, bed, towels, any thing that 
I desired, and he was content to take only what I offered 
him. I had but to ask, and he sent his guns out of sight. 
None refuses to do my bidding but yourself. From you 
I get nothing but what you do not value yourself, yet you 
will have from me only the thing which you most desire. 
You call Newport father, and you call me father, yet you 
are not the son to do for us except what you prefer, and 
we are both required to submit to you. If your intentions 
be really friendly, as you say, obey my wishes. Send 
away your arms, that I may believe you. In the love I 
bear you, I have stripped myself of every weapon." 

Smith was not blind to the fact that the number of 
Powhatan's followers had greatly increased. He himself 
had but eighteen men ashore ; and but one man, John 
Russell, immediately in attendance. Seeing that the 
savage was only solicitous to gain time in order to accu- 
mulate sufficient numbers to cut his throat. Smith deter- 
mined to anticipate the action of his enemy by putting his 
own schemes into sudden operation. He, accordingly, 
set the Indians to work to break the ice, that the boat 
might reach the shore in order to take in himself and the 
corn which he had bought. He contrived at the same 
time to convey an order to his men to come ashore, the 
better to effect the surprise which he designed. Mean- 
while, he entertained the Virginian with the following 
reply — speaking against time, as his adversary had been 
doing : 

" Powhatan, you must know, as I have but one God, I 
honour but one king, I live not here as your subject, but 
your friend, to pleasure you with what I can. By the 
gifts vou bestow upon me, you gaine more than by trade ; 



264 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

yet would you visit me as I doe you, you should know it 
is not our custome to sell our courtesies as a vendible 
commodity. Bring all your countrey with you for your 
guard, I will not dislike it as being overjealous. But, to 
content you, to-morrow I will leave my armes, and trust 
to your promise. I call you father, indeed, and as a 
father you shall see, I shall love you ; hut the small care 
you have of such a childe caused my men perswade me to 
looke to myselfe." 

How Powhatan must have grinned at this shrewd and 
affecting reproach ! It was uttered at a moment when it 
was full of significance. The conference was going on in 
one of the houses of the king. While Smith was speak- 
ing, the former was apprised of the breaking of the ice, 
and of the gradual approach of the boat to the shore. The 
wily savage instantly felt that the time for action on his 
part had come. It was not his policy to wait until Smith 
had increased his body-guard with all his force. This 
body-guard had been stationed at some little distance — at 
equal distances, probably, between the shore and the 
place of conference. Smith had but one companion with 
him in the dwelling, and by this time Powhatan had envi- 
roned the house with his warriors. Seizino: a favorable 
moment, he left some of his women to keep Smith in con- 
versation, and quietly stole off from the premises. Then 
it was that ^' our Captain " was made to comprehend his 
danger. He became aware of numbers of dusky savages, 
stalwart and suspicious, who were showing themselves on 
every hand. He found himself wholly beset with foes, 
and the chief of them, whose personal presence he had 
relied on for his safety, had disappeared with the agile 
dexterity of a serpent, winding away through the distant 
woods. But Smith possessed in perfection the Alexan- 
drine method of cutting himself out of a difficulty. He 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 265 

did not pause in this predicament. Thought and action 
grew together in a nature such as his, which needed but 
the provocation, instantly to receive from his will the 
impulse requisite to safety. Without a word, closely fol- 
lowed by his companion, Russell, " with his pistols, sword 
and target, hee made such a passage among the naked 
divils, that, at his first shoot, they next him tumbled one 
over another, and the rest quickly fled, some one way, 
some another." Our Captain was a fierce personage when 
roused. His aspect was one to inspire terror. His face 
at ordinary times — sitting for his portrait, when persons 
most endeavor to appear amiable — wore a fierce gravity ; 
the expression of which, when in his wrathful mood, must 
have been very imposing and convincing to timid per- 
sons. With this countenance, and the auxiliar influence 
of sword and pistol, he made his way through the discom- 
fited savages, and regained his soldiers without injury. 

Roused to anger, and at the head of a stout body of 
well armed men. Smith was decidedly dangerous, and it 
was important that Powhatan should explain his conduct, 
and put such a construction upon his proceedings as 
should disarm the wrath which he had roused. He sent 
him, accordingly, an " ancient orator," who, prefacing his 
discourse with a present of *' a great bracelet and a 
chaine of pearle," spoke as follows : 

" Captain Smith, our Werowance, fearing your guns, 
and knowing when the ice was broken you would bring 
more men upon him, has fled away for safety. The men 
whom you see here were only sent to take charge of his 
corn, and guard it from being stolen — which might happen 
without your knowledge. Though some of his people 
have been hurt by your violence, yet Powhatan still 
lemains your friend. Thus will he continue. And now, 
since the ice is open, he wills that you send away your 
23 



266 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

corn, and, if you would have his company, send away 
your guns also. They affright his people so that they 
dare not come to you, as he promised they should." 

It was the policy of Smith, baffled in his first object, to 
maintain appearances. Accordingly, still observing the 
utmost caution, he yet treated the savages with civility 
and favor. They had their motives of a like character 
for like behavior ; and their attentions grew sometimes 
almost too oppressive for the forbearance of our Captain. 
While one portion of them provided baskets, and con- 
veyed on board the pinnace the corn which he had 
bought, others were considerate enough to proffer their 
services in guarding and taking charge of the weapons of 
the English ; a proffer of service which we need scarcely 
say was gratefully declined. These were all " goodly, 
well-proportioned fellows, as grim as divils ;" in dealing 
with whom it became necessary occasionally to make 
such shows of war as to keep them in subordination. 
They had learned to reverence the implements of death 
used by the English, so that " the very sight of cocking 
our matches, and preparing to let fly," would prompt them 
*' to leave their bowes and arrowes to our guard, and 
beare downe our corn on their backs. We needed not 
importune them to make dispatch." 

The ebb of the tide having left the barges of the Eng- 
lish on the ooze, they were compelled to remain till high 
water, so that they were easily persuaded to return to 
their old quarters upon the shore ; where, agreeably to 
instructions from their chief, the Indians employed all 
the merry sports they could devise to pacify the whites, 
and disarm them of their hostility. The policy was to 
disarm them of their caution also. The day was con- 
sumed in merriment and dancino^, and with night came 
advices of a great feast which Powhatan was preparing to 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 267 

send them. With these agreeable assurances, and with 
the conviction that he had impressed the enemy with a 
reasonable feeling of his own inferiority, it might have 
been that Smith would have somewhat relaxed in that 
vigilance which had so repeatedly saved him before. But 
the same guardian angel to whom he already owed so 
much, the Christian child in a heathen household, Poca- 
hontas, suddenly made her appearance in the wigwam 
where our Captain found temporary shelter with his party, 
and opened his eyes to the danger that awaited him. 
Powhatan had not forgiven him his defeats — had not for- 
given him the mortification of that feeling of inferiority 
which his heart had never felt till Smith penetrated his 
territories. He burned with a passion to procure the 
head of our hero, as, indeed, the true head of the colony. 
This obtained, the rest was easy. This, if his own expe- 
rience had not taught it him, was the counsel of the trai- 
torous Dutchmen in his employ. It was the design of 
Powhatan to assail the English while they were gorging 
at their feast ; and while his cooks were preparing the 
dishes for his victims, his carvers were getting ready also. 
But we must let our author tell his own story, particularly 
as he always seems to excel — to rise above himself — in 
those passages where he speaks of Pocahontas. 

" The eternal, all-seeing God did prevent him (Pow- 
hatan), and by a strange meanes. For Pocahontas, his 
dearest Jewell and daughter, in that darke night came 
through the irksome woods, and tolde our Captaine great 
cheare should be sent us by and bye : but that Powhatan, 
and all the power he could make, would after come and 
kill us all, if they that brought it could not kill us with 
oure owne weapons when we were at supper. There- 
fore, if we would live, shee wished us presently to be 
gone." 



268 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

In requital for this information Smith " would have 
given her such things as she delighted in, but with the 
teares running downe her cheekes, she said she durst not 
be seene to have any ; for if Powhatan should know it 
she were but dead ; and so she ranne away by herself as 
she came." 

Nothing, of its kind, can well be more touching than 
this new instance of deep sympathy and attachment on 
the part of this strangely interesting forest child, for the 
white strangers and their captain. To him, indeed, she 
seems to have been devoted with a filial passion much 
greater than that which she felt for her natural sire. The 
anecdote affords a melancholy proof of the little hold 
which power, even when rendered seemingly secure by 
natural ties, possesses upon the hearts of human beings. 
Here we find the old monarch, who has just declared 
himself the survivor of three generations of subjects, be- 
trayed by his own child, and by one of his chiefs,* while 
in the pursuit of his most cherished objects. We have 
no reproaches for Pocahontas, and her conduct is to be 
justified. She obeyed laws of nature and humanity, of 
tenderness and love, which were far superior, in their 
force and efficacy, in a heart like hers, to any which spring 
simply from the ties of blood. But, even though his de- 
signs be ill, we cannot but regard the savage prince, in his 
age and infirmities, thus betrayed by child and subject, 
somewhat as another Lear. He, too, was fond of his 
Cordelia. She was " the jewel," " the nonpareil," we 
are told, of his affections. Well might he exclaim, with 
the ancient Briton, in his hour of destruction — 

" How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is, 
To have a thankless child ! " 



* The Chief of Warraskoyack. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH, 269 

But of her humane treason, for its motive was beyond 
reproach, Powhatan knew nothing. Smith kept her 
secret. He was not heedless of her intelligence, the 
truth of which he had very soon occasion to perceive. In 
less than an hour after her departure, " eight or ten lusty 
fellowes, with great platters of venison and other victuall," 
made their appearance, and invited them to sit and eat. 
These were very importunate with the English to extin- 
guish their matches, the smoke of which, they pretended, 
made them sick. But Smith maintained his precautions ; 
and, apprehensive of treachery in the preparation of the 
food, he made the Indians taste of every dish before he 
suffered his people to partake of it. He then dismissed 
them, instructing them to return to Powhatan, and say 
that " he was conscious of his purposes and ready for his 
coming. For them, he knew of the bloody task assigned 
them, but would baulk them in this and all other villainies. 
They might be gone !" Other messengers from Pow- 
hatan followed these, at different periods throughout the 
night. They came as spies to see how the land lay, and 
returned disquieted, baffled by the vigilance of Smith, 
who kept his men to their arms all night. Nothing far- 
ther was attempted ; and the savages who thronged about 
them, as with the morning they prepared for their depar- 
ture, maintained a show of friendliness to the last. Nor 
was it deemed good policy to leave Powhatan himself, 
without endeavoring to conciliate his suspicions and his 
anger. His wishes to this effect being known, it was 
resolved to leave at Werowocomoco one Edward Brynton, 
whose occupation was to provide the king's table with 
wild-fowl. 

It may be thought somewhat singular that, after the 
occurrence of these events, such a measure should have 
been adopted ; but we must not forget that the object was 
23* 



270 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

still to maintain appearances . that Smith as yet had no 
sort of idea of the treachery of the Dutchmen still em- 
ployed in Powhatan's service ; and that Brynton was 
really an increase of strength to the armed party which 
he left behind him, true (as he thought) to his interests, 
in the very household of his enemy. 



CHAPTER IX. 

We have not hesitated to express our regret at the design 
of Captain Smith to seize the person of Powhatan. This 
proceeding is excused by a regard to the necessities of the 
colony, the modes of thinking among military men at that 
period, and the obvious purpose of similar treachery with 
regard to himself, which was entertained by Powhatan. 
The excuse is no justification, in any examination upon 
just principles, of the merits of our hero. It must go for 
what it is worth. The error must be set down against his 
qualities of real merit, in proof of those imperfections of 
character which are found to impair the integrity, and 
diminish the nobleness of the very purest minds. In a 
moment of extreme exigency, when evidently nothing 
short of this degree of violence would suffice for the safety 
of the endangered party, there could, indeed, be no hesita- 
tion in the judgment which would declare in favor of that 
resolution and promptness by which, even though at ano- 
ther's hurt, the required assurances of safety were to be 
found. Whether the present was such an exigency, as 
was that of Cortez in Mexico, is a question which, in our 
very imperfect knowledge of all the facts in the situation 
of Smith, we are not exactly prepared to determine. 
From the details before us, it would not seem to be pro- 
perly classed among those perilous extremes of circum- 
stance, by which the individual is permitted, at any sacri- 
fice of moral and social law, to regain his securities. But 
as it is not our desire to urge the perfect purity and integ- 
rity of our Captain's character, we shall not undertake the 



272 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH, 

unnecessary labor of proving his freedom from error in the 
present instance. He was a stout and fearless soldier, of 
great courage and enterprise, great shrewdness, coolness, 
and common sense ; full of a rude spirit of chivalry, that 
was sometimes fantastically virtuous, — but not wiser than 
his age, and not wholly free from those faults and vices 
which that age was so frequently found to sanction. It 
does not appear that public opinion in England found any 
fault with him for this attempt upon the person of the 
Indian emperor. If it did, it was rather in consequence 
of his failure than his attempt. We, at all events, are not 
sorry that he failed. The character and conduct of Pow- 
hatan are such as entitle him to our respect and sympathy ; 
and though we forbear to censure his English adversary, 
we are not unwilling that the savage chieftain should still 
exhibit that care of his subjects, that vigilant guardianship 
of his territory, by which we are made to esteem the 
sovereign, even though in the dusky leader of a heathen 
tribe. 

Smith had scarcely set sail from Werowocomoco, before 
Powhatan reappeared. He had timely notice of all his 
movements, and with his departure, he despatched two 
of the Dutchmen with all haste to Jamestown. The 
scheme of these men was probably suggested by them- 
selves, by their knowledge of the habits of the colonists, 
and of the pretences by which they could be most easily 
imposed upon. By this scheme, they proposed not only 
to find favor in the sight of Powhatan, but to gratify their 
own cupidity. The king had set his affections upon an 
English armory. Whether this was a mere passion of 
his taste, or was meant to promote his purposes for the 
expulsion of the whites, must be left to conjecture. Both 
motives may be found at work compelling his desires ; in 
obedience to which our Dutchmen, presenting themselves 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 273 

to Captain Wynne, before Smith could possibly return, 
assured him that everything was going on well ; that 
Smith having use for their arms had sent them for others ; 
for tools, for clothes, and other commodities, all of which 
were readily yielded them. Their cunning enabled them 
to effect an arrangement with six or seven seamen, who 
became their confederates in the appropriation of goods. 
By these they were soon furnished with everything that 
could be stolen easily — with swords and pike-heads, guns, 
shot, powder, and the like — by which the wishes of Pow- 
hatan for the English weapons were very tolerably grati- 
fied. The number of Indians always prowling about the 
fort, furnished great facilities for the conveyance to their 
king of the commodities thus stolen. By these means, 
and the assistance of one of the Dutchmen, who seems to 
have been a blacksmith, he soon accumulated eight guns, 
as many pikes, fifty swords, and three hundred hatchets ; 
such a treasure as few Indian sovereigns of America were 
ever known to possess. Brynton and Richard Salvage, 
two of the Englishmen in his employ, observing the readi- 
ness with which he accumulated these weapons, and the 
great diligence which the Dutchmen betrayed in procuring 
them for him, became alarmed as much for their own 
as the safety of the colony, and made an effort to escape ; 
but were detected, pursued, brought back, and kept for 
some time in momentary apprehension of death. 

Our Captain, meanwhile, was leisurely pursuing his 
way, seeking provisions at the different settlements along 
the river. Having arrived at Pamunkey, the seat of Ope- 
chancanough, who was a brother to Powhatan, either by 
blood or by adoption, they were received and for several 
days entertained hospitably, with mirth and feasting. A 
day was set aside for trade, of which the surrounding 
country was properly apprised, Leaving his boats on this 



274 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

occasion, Smith, with fifteen others, went up to the village 
of the chief, about a quarter of a mile from the river, 
which, to their surprise, they found entirely abandoned 
by the people, and stript of all its goods and furniture. 
Such a proceeding looked exceedingly suspicious, particu- 
larly on a day set apart for trade, when, instead of being 
abandoned, the settlement should have shown all the life 
and bustle of a market-town in fairing time. But the 
strangers had not long been present before the chief arriv- 
ed, followed b}'" a stout band of warriors. These brought 
with them bows and arrows in abundance, but such a 
trifling supply of provisions, and those charged for at such 
enormous prices, that our Captain readily conceived that 
they were to be used only as a bait, by which to delude 
their customers. This extorted from him the following 
remonstrance : 

" Opechancanough, the great love you professe with 
your tongue, seemes meere deceet by your actions. Last 
yeare you kindly fraughted our ship ; but now you invite 
me to starve with hunger. You know my want, and I 
your plenty ; — of which, by some meanes, I must have 
part. Remember, it is fit for kings to keepe their pro- 
mise. Here are my commodities. Take your choice. 
What remains I will sell in fair bargains to yjui i eople." 

Opechancanough took this speech in good part, and the 
corn which had been brought was disposed of to the whites 
on terms which they thought reasonable. The Indian 
chief promised the next day that the supplies should be 
more satisfactory. Accordingly, at the usual hour. Smith, 
with his fifteen men, once more proceeded to the dwell- 
ing of the chief. Here they found a few persons newly 
arrived with their baskets. Opechancanough soon made 
his appearance ; but it was observed that his courtesies 
and cheerfulness seemed straine ' and unnatural. He was 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 275 

at some pains to assure them of the trouble he had taken 
in having supplies brought in ; but even while he spoke, 
news was brought to Smith, by Mr. Russell, that they 
were betrayed, for that the house w'as surrounded by no 
less than seven hundred armed savages. The chief saw 
that his plot was discovered, and betrayed his intentions 
by his anxiety and fear. Smith's own followers exhibited 
signs of dismay, but were encouraged by their leader in 
the folio wins; languao-e : 

^' My worthy countrymen," said he, " w^ere the mis- 
chiefe from my seeming friends no greater than our danger 
from these enemies, I should not care were they as many 
more. But it is my torment, that, though I may escape 
from these, our worthy councill, with their open-mouthed 
minions, will make me such a peace-breaker in the opi- 
nion of those in England, as will breake my necke. I 
could wish those persons to be here now^, that make these 
seeme saints, and me an oppressor. But this is the worst 
of all, wherein I pray you to aid me with your opinions. 
Shoulde we beginne with them and surprise the king, we 
cannot keepe him well, and at the same time defend our- 
selves. If we should cache kill our man, and disperse the 
rest, we should still starve for victuall, getting nothing 
more than the bodies that are slaine. As for their fury, 
that is the least danger, for well you know, that, being 
alone assaulted with two or three hundred of them, I made 
them, by the helpe of God, compound to save my life. 
And wee are sixteene, and they but seaven hundred at the 
most ; assure yourselves, therefore, that if you dare stand 
but as I doe, to discharge your peeces, the very smoke 
will e sufficient to affright them. Yet, howsoever, let 
us fight like men, not die like sheepe. By such meanes, 
you know, God hath oft delivered mee, and will, I trust, 
doe so now. But first let mee deale with them, to bring 



276 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

it to passe. We may fight for something, and draw them 
to it by conditions. If you like this motion, promise me 
you will be valiant." 

This speech, so cool and confident, reassured his men. 
They swore to follow him, and do as he commanded. 
The time did not permit much argument, and we must 
suppose that they kept the Indian chief in a tacit sort of 
custody while this discussion proceeded. This over, our 
Captain turned to him, and said : "I see, Opechancanough, 
your plot to murder me, but I feare it not. As yet, youre 
men and mine have done no harme, but by our direction. 
Take, therefore, your weapons. You see mine. My 
body shall bee as naked as yours. The island in your 
river is a fit place, if you be contented. There let us two 
fight it out, and the survivor shall be lord and master over 
all our men. If you have not enough, take time to fetch 
more, and bring what number you will. Only let your 
men bring, each of them, a basket of corne, against all of 
which I will stake the value in copper, and the conqueror 
shall take the whole." 

This was in the true spirit of chivalry. It reminds us 
of our hero before the walls of Regail. It is evident he 
thought of adding the head of Opechancanough to those 
of the three Turks already emblazoned on his shield. 
But to this the Indian chief was no ways inclined. His 
notions of war implied no such unnecessary personal risks. 
He preferred the subtler game which he had begun to 
play, and was evidently disposed to forego none of his 
advantages. Still, he disclaimed hostility, professed 
nothing but friendship, and, to prove it, invited Smith to 
go with him to the entrance of the cabin, where he had a 
great present in waiting for him. This was a bait to draw 
him into an ambush of two hundred ; thirty others lying 
concealed behind a fallen tree, each with his arrow ready 



Uj 



01? 

o 




LIFE O 1' c; A P T A I N SMITH. 277 

on the string. Commanding one of his men to receive 
this present, Smith himself refused to go. The rest of 
his party volunteered to do so. But he would not suffer 
this. He was in no mood for farther trifling. Satisfied 
of the treachery of Opechancanough, he resolved to bring 
the matter to such an issue as would reconcile all the 
inequalities of numbers. Accordingly, commanding "Lieu- 
tenant Percie, Master West, and the rest, to make good 
the house," he ordered two others to guard the door ; 
then, suddenly seizing upon the long scalp-lock of the 
Indian chief, who in size was a giant to our Captain, he 
dragged him from amidst the circle of forty or fifty war- 
riors by whom he was encircled, and clapped a loaded 
pistol to his breast. This boldness paralyzed the chief 
and all his captains, and in this manner Smith drew 
him forth, in the sight of all his people, holding him in a 
sort of security for the forbearance of his followers. The 
effect was magical. Accustomed to venerate as sacred the 
persons of their sovereigns, they regarded with awe the 
individual who could thus profane them without dread of 
punishment. They dropped their weapons at the humili- 
ating spectacle. Their chief had already yielded his — 
" delivering to the Captaine his vambrace, bow and 
arrowes," and offering his tribute in a sober " sadnesse," 
which declared his shame and apprehensions, if not his 
compunction. With his hand still wreathed in his hair. 
Smith summoned the subjects of his prisoner about him, 
and gave them a speech after his usual fashion. 

" I see, you Pamaunkees," he said, " the great desire 
you have to kill me ; and my long suffering your injuries 
hath emboldened you to this presumption. The cause 
which has made me forbear your insolence is the promise 
I made you, before the God I serve, to be your friend till 

you give me just cause to be your enemy. If. I keepe this 

24 



278 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

VOW, my God will keepe me, and you cannot do me hurt. 
If I break it, he will destroy me. But if you shoot but 
one arrow to shed the blood of any of my men, or steale 
the least of these beads and copper, which now lie at my 
feet, I will not cease revenge so long as there is one of 
your nation to answer to the name of Pamaunkee. I am 
not now at Rassaweak, half drow^ned with myre, as when 
you took me prisoner ; yet for your good usage, and spar- 
ing of me then, I so affect you, that your denyals of your 
trechery doe halfe persuade me to mistake myselfe. But 
if I be the marke you ayme at, here I stand, shoot he that 
dare. You promised to fraught my ship ere I departed, 
and so you shall, or I will load her with your dead carca- 
ses. Yet, if as friends you will come and trade with me, 
I will not trouble you. Your king shall be free, and shall 
be my friend, for I am not come for the hurt of him, or of 
any among you." 

The condition in which he kept their king made them 
very placable. They yielded ready obedience to his 
requisitions, and men, women and children, brought in 
the supplies, in such abundance, that our Captain, already 
greatly fatigued, was tired of receiving them. Leaving 
this duty to two of his men, and having released his cap- 
tive, he withdrew into one of the cabins for the purpose 
of repose. Meanwhile, the guard became remiss, and, too 
soon assured of the docility of the savages, were soon 
carelessly dispersed among them. The latter resumed 
their weapons, and Smith, vigilant even in sleep, was 
awakened to find forty or fifty of their choice warriors 
pressing into the apartment where he slept, each armed 
with a heavy war club, or an English sword. The haste 
with which their entrance was made fortunately awakened 
him in season. " Halfe amazed with this suddaine sight, 
he betooke him straight to his sword and target ; Mr 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 279 

Crashaw and some others charged in like nianner," and 
the house was soon cleared of the intruders. The king 
apologized, in a long speech, for the intrusion ; and his 
people found it advisable to assume the virtue of good 
humor and good fellowship with the powerful stranger 
whom they so vainly strove to circumvent, even if they 
felt it not. Their attempts upon him had invariably 
resulted in their own defeat and disaster ; and our hero 
had the genuine English shrewdness always to exact a 
profit for his people from all the failures of their enemies. 
He knew how to make them pay the expenses of the 
war. 

It was while our Captain was thus exploring the coun- 
try for supplies, to guard against famine in the colony, that 
a melancholy event happened at the fort. It seems that 
Mr. Scrivener, whom Smith had hitherto been always 
disposed to favor, had somewhat declined in affection 
towards the President, and under that sinister influence 
which, in England and the colony, had always stubbornly 
fought against the influence of our hero, had at length 
determined to set up in some measure for himself. Ac- 
cordingly, in order to exercise something like a separate 
command, he took advantage of Smith's absence to visit a 
contiguous island ; with what object in view is not men- 
tioned. He succeeded in persuading Captain Waldo to 
join him, though Waldo had been especially charged by 
Smith not to be absent from the fort, but to be in readi- 
ness to second his performances. Scrivener, with Waldo, 
Gosnold, and eight others, embarked on the enterprise. 
The weather was extremely cold, the river partly frozen, 
and the wind violent. The boat was swamped, and all 
in her were drowned. The bodies were recovered by the 
savages, from whom came the first intelligence to the fort 
of the sad disaster. There, nobody could be found to 



280 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

convey the melancholy tidings to the President, then sup- 
posed to be still iit Werowocomoco, until a brave fellow, 
named Richard Wyffin, undertook, alone, the performance 
of this mission. It was one of many difficulties and dan- 
gers. He first proceeded to the dwelling of Powhatan, 
where he lodged that night. Here, not finding the Presi- 
dent, and perceiving the great preparations which Powhatan 
was making for war, his worst fears were aroused for his 
own and the safety of the persons whom he sought. And 
the danger seems to have been pressing in his own 
instance. But for the interference of Pocahontas — who 
seems to have been always present when the duty of 
an angel was to be done — he might have fallen a victim 
to his generous zeal. " Pocahontas hid him for a time, 
and sent those who pursued him the cleane contrary way 
to seeke him ; but by her meanes, and extraordinary 
bribes, and much trouble, in three dayes travell at length 
he found us in the middest of these turmoyles." Swear- 
ing Wyffin to secresy, and dissembling his own grief, so 
that his company should not be seen to despond while 
among their enemies. Smith went aboard his vessel, leav- 
ing Opechancanough free the night that he received 
these tidings. That he left this powerful chief at liberty, 
was only with the view the more successfully to strike at 
higher game. He felt that, though there was no avowed 
war between Powhatan and himself, their relations were, 
nevertheless, sufficiently hostile to justify the prosecution 
of his first design ; and his experience, before returning to 
Jamestown, was of a sort to confirm him in this purpose. 
He was advised that the Indian emperor had issued his 
commands to his subjects, to procure his death by all 
means in their power ; and the poor savages, in obedience 
to these orders, had baited the shores with grain ; which, 
however, he was not suffered to approach, unless by leav- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 281 

ing behind him all his weapons. The first show of his 
coming, gun in hand, was the signal for carrying their 
baskets out of sight. They affected to have come unarm- 
ed, simply for the purposes of trade, though with such a 
people and in such a country, it was well known that 
every bush and tree would afford a sufficient armory of 
arrows for their Parthian multitudes. Still, they preferred 
approaching him in a peaceful aspect. Such was their 
terror of his prowess that, but for the commands of their 
sovereign, the idea of meeting him in conflict was as 
" hateful to them as hanging." And thus the parties 
gazed wistfully upon each other, the one from the shore, 
the other from the river — they upon Smith's weapons, and 
he upon their baskets of corn. But when he saw them 
beginning to depart wdth their produce, " being unwilling 
to lose such bootie," he so judiciously disposed the pin- 
nace and barges, as to enable the party on board to form 
a cover to his men, while he, and three others, armed, took 
a party ashore, unarmed, to receive the corn they brought. 
The Indians " flocked before him in heapes, and the banke 
serving as a trench for retreat, he drew them fayre open 
to his ambuscadoes." Opechancanough, knowing his 
party to be mostly unarmed, came down upon him with 
two or three hundred men, marching in " the forme of 
two halfe moones," the better to enclose the English. 
They brought with them some twenty men and several 
women,bearing painted baskets. As they drew nigh, and 
when they thought that the bait had taken, and that they 
had sufficiently environed the whites, the persons, men 
and women, bearing the grain, threw down their baskets 
and fled. But the fear of the assailants, even when they 
thought their purpose sure, was such as scarcely to suffer 
them to fix their shafts upon the string. Just then, as if 

in mercy. Smith gave the signal to his party in ambush, 
24* 



282 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

and they showed themselves without firing a shot. At 
this sight the savages took to flight, " esteeming their 
heeles for their best advantage." We are permitted to 
suppose that Smith providently gathered up the scattered 
baskets. 

Powhatan had truly described the terrors with which 
our Captain had inspired the savages, when he said, if a 
twig was heard to break in the forest, they cried out, 
" here comes Captain Smith." Fearing to meet him in 
battle, failing to delude him by their artifices, they attempt- 
ed his destruction by practices which we have not often 
been wont to ascribe to our aborigines. Sending down 
one of his vessels, probably with the supplies he had pro- 
cured, to Jamestown, he still remained in the neighbor- 
hood of Pamunkee, in which there was still an abundance 
of provision which he hoped to secure by barter. The 
Indians, under new professions of terror and friendship, 
came in and expressed a willingness to freight his vessel, 
in order to disarm his hostility. They believed, or pre- 
tended to believe, that he had despatched one of his boats 
for fresh supplies of men. In this mood, whether sincere 
or feigned, they employed themselves for five or six days 
in bringing in grain, through frost and snow, on their naked 
backs, from all parts of the country. In the meantime, 
Smith and several of his party found themselves poisoned 
by some of the dainties with which the savages had sup- 
plied them. But their art was not equal to their malice. 
The poison sickened the whites, but was expelled, without 
proving fatal in a single instance. Wecuttanow^ a stout 
young Indian, finding himself suspected of the crime, and 
being surrounded by forty or fifty of his companions at a 
moment when Smith had but a few men about him, brav- 
ed him with a good deal of insolence. But our Captain, 
not regarding the inequality of numbers, promptly laid his 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 2S3 

cudgel over the shoulders of the savage, and kicked him 
out of sight, " as scorning to doe him any worse mis- 
chiefe." This drove his companions into the woods, 
" thinking they had done a great matter to have so well 
escaped." 

In this tour in search of provisions, our Captain explored 
the " countries of Youghtanund and Mattapanienty where 
the people imparted what little they had with such com- 
plaints and tears from the eyes of women and children," 
as would have moved with compassion any Christian 
heart. Yet had the search been made in October, No- 
vember and December, or when Newport was making his 
idle discovery of the country of the Monacans, there 
would have been no sort of difficulty in procuring all the 
provisions they required. " Men may thinke it strange," 
says our author, in a passage that would seem to be apolo- 
getic in its object, " that there should be such a strive for 
a little corne, but had it been gold with more ease we 
might have got it ; and had it lacked, the whole colony 
had starved." Such an exigency, which the forethought 
of the President soon perceived, may well be urged in 
extenuation of proceedings which might otherwise seem 
rather harsh than decisive. 



CHAPTER X. 

It was somewhat with the view of disarming the caution 
of Powhatan, that our Captain treated the people of Ope- 
chancanough with so much indulgence. To seem on 
friendly terms with them, and to linger with the apparent 
view to trade, was to lessen the suspicions of the empe- 
ror, and keep him still at Werowocomoco. Believing 
this object to have been attained, Smith, on leaving Pa- 
munkee, suddenly turned his prow up the river, and 
once more sought the habitation of Powhatan ; resolved 
on effecting, if possible, his original design of surprising 
him in the midst of his provisions. Approaching the town 
in secret, he sent two of his party, " Mr. Wyffin, and Mr. 
Coe," ashore to discover and make way for his intended 
project. " Those damned Dutchmen," says our indig- 
nant author, " had caused Powhatan to abandon his new 
house and Werowocomoco, and to carry away all his corn 
and provision." Such also was the ill-feehng for the 
whites whom he had left behind him, that the two emissa- 
ries of Smith were in some doubt whether they should 
escape with their lives. Baffled in his scheme, and seeing 
that nothing more was to be obtained in this neighborhood, 
he returned with all possible speed to Jamestown, carry- 
ing with him two hundred pounds of deer suet, and nearly 
five hundred bushels of corn ; all of which was procured 
at a cost of twenty-five pounds' weight of copper, and fifty 
of beads and iron. 

Here, at the close of this expedition, our author deems 
it necessary to excuse the gentleness and great forbear- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 285 

ance which Smith exhibited in thus dealing with the 
savages, and thus shows us the difficulty of applying the 
social and moral standards of the present time to the con- 
duct of that period. " These temporizing proceedings to 
some may seeme too charitable to such a daily daring, 
trecherous people : to others not pleasing that we washed 
not the ground with their blouds, nor showed such strange 
inventions in mangling, murdering, ransacking and destroy- 
ing (as did the Spanyards) the simple bodies of such igno- 
rant soules ; nor delightful, because not stuffed with rela- 
tions of heapes and mynes of gold and silver ; nor such 
rare commodities as the Portugals and Spanyards found in 
the East and West Indies. * * * It was the Span- 
yards good hap to happen in parts where such was the 
number of people as to enable them so to improve the 
earth that it afforded food at all seasons. And time had 
brought their arts to so much perfection as to give them 
the free use of gold and silver, together with the most of 
those commodities which the country was able to afford. 
What the Spanyard got was chiefly the spoyle and pillage 
of the people, and not the labours of their owne hands. 
But had those fruitful countries beene as salvage, as bar- 
barous, as ill-peopled, as little planted, laboured and ma- 
nured as Virginia, it is likely that their labours would 
have brought as little profit as our owne. Had Virginia 
beene so peopled, and so adorned with such store of pre- 
cious Jewells and rich commodities as the Indies, then, 
indeed, might the world have traduced us and our merits, 
and have made shame and infamy our reward, had we not 
gotten and done as much as by their (the Spaniards) exam- 
ples might properly be expected from us. * * * But 
we chanced in a land even as God made it, where we 
found only an idle, improvident and scattered people, 
ignorant of the knowledge of gold and silver, and carelesse 



286 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

of any thing but from hand to mouth. Nothing was here 
to encourage us but what nature afforded. And this 
could not be brought to recompense our paines, defray our 
charges, and satisfie our adventurers, until we could dis- 
cover the countrey, subdue the people, bring them to be 
tractable, civill and industrious, and teach them trades, 
so that the fruits of their labors might make us some 
return ; or until we could plant such colonies of our 
owne, whose first necessity would be to make provision 
how to live themselves. * * * But to conclude, I 
onely say this for those that the three first yeares began 
this plantation ; notwithstanding all their factions, muti- 
nies and miseries, so gently corrected, and well prevent- 
ed ;" let them peruse the histories of Spanish conquest 
and discovery, *' and tell me how many ever with such 
small meanes as a barge of 22 tons, sometimes with sea- 
ven, eight or nine, or but at most, twelve or sixteene 
men, did ever discover so many fayre and navigable rivers, 
subject so many severall kings, people and nations to 
obedience and contribution, and all with so little bloud- 
shed." 

The boast contained in this passage is an equally hono- 
rable and becoming one. It is truly astonishing how much 
was done by the prudence and forethought of this man ; 
by his coolness and steady courage, and real benevolence ; 
and how much was forborne of crime and bloodshed, which 
had been sure to follow, in such a country, and dealing 
with such a people, had the leader been wanton in the 
use of power, profligate of human life, and not properly 
considerate of the feeble and simple savages whom it was 
his fortune to encounter. And the moral of his progress 
is to be found in the statement here contained of his gene- 
ral principles : to " discover the countrey, subdue the peo- 
ple, brinsc them to be tractable, civill and industrious ;" in 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 287 

order that the resources of their own nature, and the vir- 
tues of the soil and climate, might at once be brought into 
just fruition. And this is the highest purpose of human 
benevolence. We are to judge of a hero's claims, not by 
this or that sing-le scheme or action — call it crime and 
error if you please — but by what he has forborne of 
crime and error, and what he has resisted of temptation. 
Thus examined, the deeds and enterprises of Smith will 
honorably compare with those of any hero to be found in 
the progress of a commercial age and people. To have 
done so much with so little ; in the teeth of discontent 
and faction ; with foes without, and treachery within 
the settlement ; with so much provocation to anger and 
severity, yet with so great toleration and pity for the 
offender ; so much firmness with so much mercy ; and 
such various resource against such and so many unlooked 
for annoyances and disasters ; — sufficiently establishes to 
posterity the high and remarkable endowments and merits 
of our subject. But the facts in his career need no illus- 
trative commentary. They speak for themselves. 

Returning to Jamestown, and making a general exami- 
nation into the affairs of the colony, he found no reason 
to be satisfied with the doings of those he left behind him. 
Their tools and weapons were lost or stolen ; the provi- 
sion in store had been suffered to rot, was half destroyed 
by worms and rats, and in such condition that the hogs 
would scarcely eat it. Fortunately, it was found, upon 
due calculation, that the supplies which he had just pro- 
cured would suffice until the next harvest. With the 
dread of famine at an end for the present, all care about 
procuring provision was abandoned, and the whole com- 
pany was divided into squads of ten or fifteen, and assigned 
to the necessary duties of the colony. Six hours each 
day were devoted to their tasks, the rest in pastimes and 



2SS LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

merry exercises. But such was the untowardness of 
many among them, to whom labor was equally new and 
irksome, that our President was compelled to give them 
sharp counsel after his peculiar fashion. 

" Countrymen," he said, " the long experience of our 
late miseries, I hope, is sufficient to persuade every one to 
a present correction of himselfe. Thinke not that either 
my paines, nor the adventurers' purses, will ever maintain 
you in idlesse and sloathe. I speake not this to you all, 
for divers of you I know deserve both honor and reward, 
much better than is here to be had ; but the greater part 
must be more industrious or starve ; however you have 
been heretofore tollerated by the authoritie of the Coun- 
cell. You see now that power resteth wholly in myselfe. 
You must obey this now for a law, that he that will not 
work (except by sicknesse he is disabled) shall not eate. 
The labours of thirtie or fortie honest and industrious men 
shall not be consumed to maintain an hundred and fiftie 
idle loyterers. And though you presume the authoritie 
here is but a shadow, and that I dare not touch the lives 
of any lest my owne shoulde answer it, yet will you see 
by the contents of the Letters Patent, which shall be read 
to you each week, that the very contrary is the case. I 
would wish you, therefore, without contempt of my au- 
thoritie, to study to observe the orders that I have here 
set down ; for there are now no more councellers to pro- 
tect you and to curbe my endeavours. He that offendeth, 
therefore, shall most assuredly meet due punishment." 

The members of the Council, if we remember. Scrivener, 
Waldo, and others, perished in the boat while Smith wa.s 
at Pamunkee. He, as President of the colony, was left 
with the sole authority. His speech is to the purpose. It 
speaks the man of business and of resolution, and was not 
';\'ithout its effect, we may suppose. But, to encourage 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 289 

the good, and to spur the sluggish to amendment, he pre- 
pared a table or register of each man's name, with a sum- 
mary notice of his daily conduct. This was placed con- 
spicuously where it could be seen by all, and thus become 
'^apublicke memoriall of every man's deserts." This, 
too, had its influence. Many became very industrious, 
though quite as many were only to be goaded to their 
tasks by punishment. He had so contrived their duties 
that they found it impossible to deceive him. His eye 
was everywhere, on all things and persons, and he pos- 
sessed, in rare degree, that faculty of vision which enables 
the master to pierce through the secret bosom, and discern 
all its secrets. But there were some practices which he 
could not fathom — some offenders who contrived to baffle 
even his penetration. Still, there was a daily loss of tools 
and weapons, and common sense naturally led them to 
conceive that these found their way to the Indians, by 
whom they were much desired. The thefts were com- 
mitted by those in the fort, who had become confederates 
with the Dutchmen sent to Powhatan. At one time, while 
Smith was at Pamunkee, these confederates, to the num- 
ber of five, had stolen away from the colony, and were on 
their way to Powhatan, when the}'' were met by Mr. 
Crashaw and Mr. Ford, who had been despatched to 
Jamestown from Pamunkee, by Smith. To these they 
gave some plausible statement, accounting for their 
presence on the road, and, the better to baffle their suspi- 
cions, they returned with these gentlemen to the settle- 
ment, resuming their old business of peculation. Powder 
and shot, tools and weapons, disappeared with unaccounta- 
ble rapidity under their agency, leaving no clue by which 
they could be found or followed. Meantime, the Dutch- 
men somewhat wondered why their confederates had not 
followed them as had been promised. They were em- 
25 



290 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

ployed by the savage emperor, not in palace building, but 
in teaching himself and warriors the proper use of the 
English weapons. To solve their doubts in relation to the 
delay of their associates, they sent one of their company, 
named Francis, disguised like an Indian. This fellow 
made his way to the glass-house in the forest, about a 
mile from Jamestown. This was the common place of 
rendezvous for these conspirators. Here they arranged 
a scheme for taking or putting Captain Smith to 
death ; forty Indians lying in ambush, for some time, in 
expectation of his appearance. But his good genius again 
baffled them, and, in the meantime, tidings of the visit of 
Francis, and the disguise which he wore, reached his 
ears. His plans Mere decisive. The fellow escaped the 
party that went to the glass-house to apprehend him, but 
did not escape another party of twenty men, whom Smith 
despatched to cover the road between Jamestown and the 
domains of Powhatan. He was captured and brought 
back ; but, before this took place, our Captain experienced 
an adventure of considerable danger, from which it required 
all his dexterity and courage to escape. Returning from 
the glass-house alone, after he had sent off the twenty 
soldiers in pursuit of the fugitive, he suddenly encountered 
the King of Paspahegh, a stalwart savage of large stature. 
To this chief, it appears that the ambush had been en- 
trusted by which Smith was to perish. But Smith's foot- 
steps did not incline in the direction where the Indians 
were concealed, and, throwing himself in his vv'ay, the 
object of the chief was to beguile his victim in the 
required direction. But either the art of the savage was 
too rude, or our Captain had grown cautious and suspicious 
from a frequent knowledge of his danger, and the attempts 
of the chief were unavailing. Desperate in his design, 
and stimulated to the attempt by the urgent wishes of 





Smith's Canflict with the King af Paspahegh. page 2^1. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 291 

Powhatan, he conceived the idea, as Smith was alone, 
and armed only with a falchion, of accomplishing the 
deed himself. But the attempt to shoot him with his 
arrow failed in consequence of his having approached too 
nearly to his enemy. Smith was enabled to close in with 
him, before the shaft could be dismissed from the string. 
The grapple now^ between them was one for life and death, 
and to prevent the Captain from drawing his falchion, as 
he had been prevented from using his bow, the s-tout 
savage grappled him with equal dexterity and courage. 
The Indian seems to have been the most powerful man 
of the two, was large of frame and muscular, though 
less agile, perhaps, and possibly not so good a wrestler as 
our Captain. But he succeeded, by main force, in 
dragging him into the river, where they struggled for some 
time in the water, neither having the advantage. At length 
a fortunate movement enabled Smith to get his fingers 
fairly clutched about the naked throat of his dusky oppo- 
nent. This he griped with such hearty good will, that the 
savage, half-strangled, succumbed to his conqueror ; — who, 
drawino; his falchion, and about to cut off the head of 
his captive, was persuaded to spare him by his pitiful en- 
treaties for life. But he made him prisoner, and, under the 
edge of the uplifted sword, drove him into Jamestown and 
made him fast in chains. 

Here he proved a witness for the conviction of the 
Dutchman, Francis. This traitor, put upon trial, offered 
but a lame plea to the charges urged against him. The 
confession of Paspahegh was conclusive of his guilt ; and, 
to use the phrase of our authority, which leaves us some- 
what doubtful of his punishment, " he went by the heeles," 
accordingly. But his life M'as spared by Smith, who, as 
a conqueror, was always merciful; — spared, at this time, 
to be reserved ftr a worse fate, equally well deserved, 



292 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

hereafter. Francis, after Smith had left the colony, and 
its government had fallen into other hands, contrived to 
escape a second time to Powhatan. To this wily monarch, 
he promised to play the same game with the new gover- 
nor. Lord Delaware, which he had played with Smith. 
But Powhatan had become much more suspicious with 
increase of experience ; and, telling the traitor that he who 
had betrayed Smith to him, would be just as likely to be- 
tray him to Delaware, he commanded his brains to be 
beaten out. And thus the miserable wretch rushed only 
to his doom at last. 

Paspahegh was kept some time in prison, Smith pro- 
posing to exchange him for the Dutchmen left with Pow- 
hatan. But, either they were not willing to return, or 
Powhatan would not suffer them ; and while the negotia- 
tions for this object were in progress, Paspahegh contrived, 
during a temporary absence of Smith, to escape from 
prison. He was pursued by Captain Winne, but his faith- 
ful subjects covered his flight with such troops of warriors 
who resolutely braved the combat, freely exchanging shaft 
for shot, that he succeeded in getting off" safely. Return- 
ing to the fort, and learning of these events, Smith cap- 
tured two Indians, Kemps and Tussore — " the two most 
exact villains in all the country," — " who would betray 
both king and kindred for a piece of copper." These he 
sent with a party of fifty choice men, under Captain Winne 
and Lieutenant Percy, in pursuit of the fugitive chief. 
They were to guide the soldiers where he was concealed. 
But Winne did not follow Smith's counsel, nor the 
guidance of his Indians, but, trifling away the night when 
he should have pushed forward with all his strength, he 
found the savages prepared for him, in all their might, by 
the dawn of day. They defied him to the combat, and 
the two parties exchanged shots at a distance so respect- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 293 

ful, as to expose nobody to hurt on either side. Winne 
and his party returned to Jamestown, after burning a few- 
houses and capturing a few canoes. 

Smith was dissatisfied with this result, and took the field 
himself. He feared that the savages would be encouraged 
by this non-performance of his soldiers, and soon " began 
himselfe againe to try conclusions" with his warlike neigh- 
bors, "whereby six or seven were slaine, and as many 
made prisoners." He w^as resolved that their punishment 
should make them fear him. He burnt their houses, took 
their boats, removed their fishing weirs to his own 
waters, and was passing by Paspahegh towards Chicka- 
hominy, in order to extend his vengeance to all the 
deserving, when he was encountered by a large body of 
the Paspaheghians, who bravely prepared to try his strength. 
But when, at the first encounter, they discovered our 
Captain instead of Winne, at the head of the English, they 
threw down their weapons, and entreated peace. His 
very name and presence were enough. One of their ora- 
tors, speaking for the rest, thus addressed him : " Captain 
Smith, the chief, my master, is here present with this 
company. It was Captain Winne, and not you, of w^hoin 
he thought to be avenged. If he hath offended you in 
escaping from imprisonment, you must remember that 
fishes swim, fowles fly, and the very beasts strive to escape 
the snare. Blame him not, therefore, being a man, that 
he hath done in like manner. He would entreat you to 
remember your being a prisoner, what paines he took to 
save your life. If, since that time, he hath injured you, 
he was compelled to it by another. You, too, have already 
amply revenged yourself, to our too great losse. Do not 
destroy us as you now seem to desire. We are here to 
implore your friendship — to entreat that we be permitted 
to enjoy our houses and to plant our fields, in whose fruit 



294 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

you shal] participate ; otherwise, you will be the sufferers 
if you drive us away to other places. We can plant, but 
you cannot live lacking our harvests. Proceed in your 
revenge, and we will abandon the country. Promise us 
peace, and we will believe you." 

This '' worthy discourse " which, as our author justly 
writes, " deserveth to be remembered," had its effect. 
The chief was forgiven, peace was made between the par- 
ties, and they separated good friends ; and so continued 
till Smith left the country. The wonderful influence 
which our adventurer possessed over the minds of the 
aborigines, was to be still farther increased by a circum- 
stance which happened soon after his return to the colony. 
There, it had been discovered that the people of Chicka- 
hominy, who had always shown themselves very affec- 
tionate and friendly, were yet disposed to be very thiev- 
ish. A pistol being stolen, and the thief escaping, his two 
brothers, who were known to be his confederates, were 
taken into custody. One of them, after a brief imprison- 
ment, was suffered to go free, with a message to the thief 
that if the pistol was not restored within twelve hours, the 
brother left in prison w^ould be hun;>;. The message was 
effectual. The messenger returned before midnight, 
bringing the pistol, but seemed to have returned too late. 
The season was one of great severity, and Captain Smith, 
commiserating the cold and naked condition of the poor 
wretch left in prison, sent him food, and a supply of char- 
coal, with which to make a fire. Ignoiant of the deadly 
properties of the burning charcoal in a close apartment, 
the poor Indian, when his brother was admitted to his 
prison, was found lifeless. Bitterly did the survivor 
lament the premature death of his kinsman ; and so much 
did Smith sympathize with him in his cruel sorrow and 
disappointment^ that he confidently [ romised the wailing 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 295 

savage, if he would be quiet, that he would restore the 
dead man to h"fe. It was one of those spontaneous, irre- 
pressible impulses of a generous wish, which prompted 
this promise, for he tells us he had little thought that the 
victim could be recovered. Yet he went to work with 
all his industry and skill, and the will to achieve has in 
itself a virtue which half ensures success to its perform- 
ances. Aqua vit(Bj that power, potent as it has proved 
for evil, has its virtues also ; and, with vinegar, proved, 
on the present occasion, a most fortunate specific. The 
poor savage, through God's blessing, was restored to con- 
sciousness ; but the effects of the charcoal promised to be 
fatal to his intellect. To restore him to his proper senses 
was another task of difficulty imposed upon him by the 
entreaties of the anxious kinsman, and this also Smith 
promised to achieve. Succeeding in this by such simple 
means as an experienced soldier, or traveller, would natu- 
rally have learned to use, our Captain gained the reputa- 
tion among the Indians of having raised the dead. Ano- 
ther circumstance served to increase the respect in which 
the English and their Captain were held by the simple 
natives. An " ingenious savage" of Powhatan's had pro- 
cured by theft, or barter with the thief, a bag of gunpow- 
der, and the back piece of a suit of armor. To show 
his superior knowledge, the fellow had gathered several 
of his companions around him, and proceeded to dry the 
powder, as he had seen the soldiers practise the opera- 
tion upon the armor. He dried it a little too long fo.r his 
credit and his life. The powder exploded, and destroyed 
the experimenter, and one or two more. Others were so 
much scorched, as to produce a wholesome distrust in the 
minds of the whole nation, of the virtues of a commodity 
so quick to take fire. The result was highly important to 
our English. " These, and many other such pretty acci- 



296 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

dents, so amazed and affrighted both Powhatan and all his 
people, that their conscientiousness returned to them." 
Numberless things which had been stolen, but which had 
neither been demanded nor thought of, were suddenly 
returned ; and even the thieves themselves, after this 
event, were sent back to Jamestown to receive punish- 
ment. The stubborn Powhatan was subdued by his 
superstitious fears, and, with his people, by numerous 
presents, entreated peace hereafter. The change was so 
complete, that the country became absolutely as free and 
safe to the English as to the savages themselves. For- 
tune thus admirably co-operated with the genius of our 
Captain to produce all the results to his colony which 
good government could possibly desire or procure. 



CHAPTER XL 

The exclusive control which Captain Smith now possessed 
over the affairs of the colony, was soon made manifest in 
its progress. The pacific temper to which he had brought 
the savages in a short space of time, left him wholly free 
to administer the internal affairs of the settlement at his 
pleas-ure ; and the fact that he was no longer embarrassed 
by the vexing moods and querulous dispositions of his 
council, rendered his work comparatively easy and agreea- 
ble. Accordingly, we find the English making such pro- 
gress in the useful arts, in the three months which followed 
the conclusion of peace with Powhatan, as they never 
exhibited in all their previous history. Tar, pitch, and 
potash, in considerable quantities, rewarded their exer- 
tions ; they produced some samples of glass ; dug a well 
of excellent water in the fort, which, till then, had been 
very much wanting ; provided nets and seines for taking- 
fish ; built twent)^ new houses ; repaired the church, and, 
the better to prevent thieving, and to check the incursions 
of the savages, raised a block-house on the isthmus of 
Jamestown, which neither Christian nor Heathen was suf- 
fered to pass without oider or permit from the President. 
Thirty or forty additional acres of land were also broken 
up and planted ; and such new care taken of pigs and 
poultry that their increase became marvellous. The for- 
mer were carried to an islet, which was called Hog Island, 
and here a block-house was also built, and a garrison 
established, which should give notice of any approaching 
shipping. The soldiers here were not, however, left to 



298 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

keep the place in idleness, but for their exercise and 
amusement were required to fell trees, and split clapboards. 
A fort was also begun, as a place of retreat — for they 
had no reason to suppose themselves free from the Spanish 
rovers — upon a commanding hill near a contiguous river. 
The plan of this fortress rendered it difficult of assault, and 
easy of defence ; but, before it was quite finished, a more 
pressing matter arrested the workmen. 

It was found that their corn, their entire stock, which 
had been put up in casks, and probably in a damp condi- 
tion, was half rotten, and so much injured by the rats — of 
which reptile, a colony of several thousands had been 
transferred from the ships to the shore — that it was ren- 
dered almost wholly worthless for the future use of the 
people. This put a stop to all their labors and enterprises, 
those only excepted which went to supplying them with 
food ; and this last necessity, as our President acknow- 
ledges, " drove them to their wits' end." There was 
nothing to be procured in the country, except that which 
came from the hands of nature. The Indian women of 
Youghtanund and Mat tap anient, when sharing with them 
their last supplies, did it with tears and lamentations, 
which forbade the idea of ravishing from the poor savages 
their little remaining store. The two Indians whom Smith 
had seized as hostages for the return of the chief of Pas- 
pahegh, and who were described as the " two most exact 
villaines in all the country," had refused to leave the set- 
tlement even when they recovered their enlargement, but 
made themselves useful, and were found particularly 
valuable in teaching the whites how their fields were to 
be prepared and planted. These " exact villaines" exer- 
cised a proper influence over their people, who, in the 
distress of the colony, brought daily supplies of game — 
"squirrels, turkies, deere, and other wilde beasts." With 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 299 

common industry and skill, starvation in such a country 
was impossible ; but it became necessary to scatter their 
forces, that they might more readily procure their game. 
Accordingly, sixty or eighty, with Ensign Laxson, were 
sent down the river to feed upon oysters ; twenty with 
Lieut. Percy, to Point Comfort, to live by fishing ; " Mas- 
ter West, with as many more, went up the falls, but 
nothing could be found but a few acornes, of which every 
man had a fair proportion." The industry of some thirty 
or forty enabled them, even under these hard conditions, 
to live tolerably well, and with something of comfort. 
These had always before been the persons to supply the 
colony. They now contrived to supply themselves. 
Sturgeon were in abundance, and these fish dried and 
pounded, and "mixed with caviare, sorrel, and other 
wholesome hearbes, would make good bread and meate ;" 
while the Toghwogh and other roots would yield bread 
enough in a day to keep the gatherer a week. But the 
greater number of the colonists, who had hitherto found 
their food wholly in the toils of others, were not satisfied 
to adopt the habits of industry even at a period of such 
extreme necessity, and " had they not been forced, nolens 
volens^ perforce to gather and prepare their victuall, they 
would all have starved or have eaten one another." It 
was the painful struggle with our Captain, from the first 
commencement of the settlement in Virginia, to protect 
the greater number of his followers from themselves. 
Their own blindness, and wickedness, and wilfulness; the 
perversity and malice in their hearts; the profligacy, at 
once, of moral and understanding with which they suffered, 
constituted the greater part of the toils and vexations with 
which he had to contend from the commencement. And 
now, when, with ordinary painstaking, it was so easy to 
gather good food and in abundance, these miserable 



300 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

wretches, with idleness, and gluttony, and a pernicious will, 
thoroughly ingraining their whole nature, preferred infinitely 
the sacrifice of all that had been done, and all that they 
possessed, rather than undergo the moderate amount of 
toils which the necessities of their condition required. 
They preferred rather to sell their implements of culture, 
of work and defence, their hoes and kettles, their swords, 
guns and ordnance, in exchange with the savages for the 
poor remains of corn they had in store. Powhatan, hear- 
ing of their emergency, had, with a rare and noble magna- 
nimity, sent them half his stock ; yet were these profligate 
wretches on the eve of mutinying because Smith would not 
yield to their clamors, in endeavoring to wrest from him 
the residue. Failing in this object, their evil humors 
took another direction ; and finding that some of them seri- 
ously meditated the abandonment of the colony, he seized 
upon the ringleader of the faction, one Dyer, " a crafty 
fellow, and his ancient maligner," and having " worthily 
punished" him, made a talk to his comrades, in the fol- 
lowing form and manner : — 

" Fellow-soldiers, I little thought there could be any 
among you so false to report, or so simple as to believe 
that I intended to starve you, or that Powhatan, at this 
season, had any corn for himselfe, much less for you ; or 
that I would not procure it for you, if I knew where it 
were to be had. Neither did I think any of you so mali- 
cious as now I see a great many. Yet this shall not so 
provoke my passion, but that I will do my best for my 
worst maligner. But you must dream no longer of any 
help from Powhatan, nor that I will forbear to force you, 
if you are idle, and punish you when you wrangle. And if 
I finde any more runners for Newfoundland with the pin- 
nace, let him assuredly look to arrive at the gallows. You 
cannot deny but that, by the hazard of my life, many a 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 301 

time I have saved yours, when (might your owne wills 
have prevailed) you would have starved, and would do so 
still whether I will or noe. But I protest, by the God 
that made me, since necessitie hath not power to force 
you to gather for yourselves those fruites which the 
earth doth yield, you shall not onely gather for yourselves, 
but for those also who are sicke. I have shared with the 
meanest of you in provision, and now my extra allowance 
shall be distributed among the sicke. They, at least, shall 
not suffer. You shall help to provide for them. They 
shall partake of all our labors. As for this savage fare 
which your mouths so scornfully repine at, your stomaches 
can digest it. If you would have better you should have 
bought it. I will take a course which shall make you 
provide what is to be had. He, therefore, who gathereth 
not each day as much as I doe, shall be set the next be- 
yond the river, and be banished from the fort as a droan 
till he mend his condition or starve." 

They murmured at his tyranny, but submitted, and 
thrived accordingly. They did not perish from the famine 
that was so much feared ; but the fishermen to his nets, 
the fowler to his weirs, the farmer to his fields, all pros- 
pered in obeying that imperative will, which saved them 
in spite of their own. Many were billeted among the 
Indians, and thus acquired their languages, their modes of 
life, their forest craft, and the medicinal and culinary vir- 
tues of their plants and roots, in the use of which the 
savages have proverbially great success and skill. And 
they suffered no injury thus living among their rude and 
wandering neighbors. Captain Smith was a name of so 
much power and terror among them, that " they durst not 
wrong us of a pin." So grateful did this sort of life be- 
come to many of the whites, that they afterwards ran 

away to their forest friends when the necessity for leaving 
26 



302 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

the fort had ceased to exist. But they were soon taught 
by the Indians that the power was supposed to reside in 
Captain Smith rather than the race over which he ruled. 
The simple savages had long learned to distinguish between 
his endowments and those of his companions ; and the 
treatment of the fugitives, who were always finally brought 
back by the Indians, was in some cases full of admirable 
justice. The two savages, Kemps and Tussoree, the 
" two most exact villaines in all the country," made them- 
selves sport by subjecting the runaway whites to a treat- 
ment such as that which Smith had made them endure 
while in captivity : " feeding them with this law" — a 
favorite maxim with our Captain — " that he who would 
not work must not eate," until they nearly starved the 
spiritless fugitives to death. Nor were they suffered to 
escape, but were kept closely watched, and under the 
uplifted club, until opportunity was found for bringing them 
back to the settlements,- with all that they had stolen. 
Such had been the effect of our hero's training upon these 
" poore salvages, of whom there was more hope to make 
better Christians and good subjects than the one halfe of 
those that counterfeited themselves both." 

Among the first public labors which engaged the atten- 
tion of our President when the emergencies of the colony 
in regard to food were fairly at an end, was one to recover 
possession of the Dutchmen who had been left with Pow- 
hatan, and another fugitive, named Benlley^ who had 
found his way to the same place of harborage. By this 
time the treachery of those reprobates was well known in 
the colony, and the desire of Smith to obtain possession 
of their persons had its origin quite as much in the wish 
to lessen their influence upon the profligates at Jamestown, 
as with the view to their own punishment. To effect 
this object, Smith despatched one William Volday, a 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 303 

Swiss, who undertook to procure their return to the 
colony. He was authorized to promise their pardon for 
past offences, and good treatment hereafter. But Volday 
himself was no sooner in the tents of Powhatan, than he 
followed the traitorous example of those whom he had 
been sent to recover. He had probably been one of their 
confederates before, but so secretly and adroitly had he 
played his game that none had ever suspected him. His 
hypocrisy was of the most odious sort, since he obtained 
the confidence of Smith chiefly by his openly declared dis- 
approbation and loathing of the Dutchmen — whom our 
author styles " his cursed countrymen." Volday was a 
more daring, as well as a more subtle villain than the rest. 
He proposed to Powhatan and his associates to proceed 
more vigorously in their objects, and offered to the former 
that, with his forces, he would undertake, while the Eng- 
lish were thus scattered abroad over the face of the country 
for food, to cut them off, and bring into his service all those 
whom it was not absolutely necessary to destroy. They 
were to fire Jamestown, seize the pinnace, slay the hogs, 
and effectually root out the settlement. Whether Pow- 
hatan entertained this plot, to be put in execution at a 
proper season, or not, we are not advised ; but the plan 
was revealed to Smith in sufficient time to guard against 
its dangers by two of his own people, Thomas Douse and 
Thomas Mallard, to whom, as to his confederates, Volday 
had made it known. Repenting of their connection with 
this traitor, they betrayed his secret, which Smith caused 
them still to conceal, while they continued to intrigue 
with the conspirator. His object was that the plot should 
ripen, " onely to bring the irreclaimable Dutchmen, and 
the inconstant salvages, in such a manner, amongst such 
ambuscados as he had prepared, that not many of them 
should returne from our Peninsula." But the rumor got 



304 LIFE OF CAPTAir^ SMITH. 

abroad among the people, who importuned the President 
to pursue and destroy the traitors. Lieutenant Percy and 
Mr. John Cuddrington, " two gentlemen of as bold and 
resolute spirits as could possibly be found," with many 
others, volunteered to go and cut the throats of these 
wretches in the very presence of Powhatan. But Smith 
had other employments for these. He, nevertheless, gave 
way to the voice of the multitude, and suffered " Master 
Wyffin and Sergeant Jeffrey Abbot to goe and stab or 
shoot them." But this commission came to nothing. 
Powhatan signified to the messengers of death that the 
Dutchmen were at their disposal. He did not keep them ; 
nor would he offer to protect them. But when they lis- 
tened to the representations of the criminals, they began 
to differ in opinion as to the propriety of executing judg- 
ment upon them. Wyffin was for carrying out the pur- 
pose on which he came, but Abbot opposed it. The 
Dutchmen accused Void ay, suspecting him of revealing 
the plot. He, meanwhile, seems to have eluded observa- 
tion, and probably sought shelter in the forests, from 
whence he subsequently made his way to England, where 
he imposed upon sundry merchants with a story of rich 
mines which he had discovered in Virginia. He was 
sent out by them with Lord Delaware ; but his impos- 
tures were soon detected, and he died miserably and in 
deserved disgrace. Of the other Dutchmen, one remain- 
ed with the Indians, while the other accepted tlie pardon 
which was tendered him by Smith, and returned to the 
colony. Subsequently, availing himself of a period of 
confusion in the settlement, he fled again to Powhatan, 
with Francis, one of his confederates, whose history has 
already been given,— and shared his fate ; — the brains of 
both of them being beaten out by the Indians, as double 
traitors, whom no party could trust. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 305 

Meanwhile, the return of the several parties, which, ia 
obedience to instructions from England, had been sent 
out to ascertain the fate of the missing colony of Sir Wal- 
ter Raleigh, proved the mission to be fruitless. Mr. 
Sicklemore had explored the Chawwonoke, but found no 
traces and as few traditions of the lost settlers ; and quite 
as little to reward his toils in the search after "silk-grass," 
or Pemminaw, as the Indians call it. The soil he found 
well timbered and exceedingly fertile. " Master Nathana- 
el Powel and Anas Todkill,''^ who had been sent under 
guidance of two of the people of Quioughnohanocks, to 
explore the country of the Mangoags — a tribe not under 
the sway of Powhatan, but dwelling on the upper branches 
of the Nottoway — were equally unfortunate. " Three 
dayes journey they conducted them through the woods, 
into a high country towards the southwest ; where they 
saw, here and there, a little cornefield, by some little 
spring or small brooke, but no river could they see." Ex- 
cept in language, they found the savages of this region in 
manners and appearance to resemble all they had yet seen. 
They lived upon the wild beasts and roots of the forest, 
wild fruits, and their slender crops, and carried on a trade 
with the people along the coasts, exchanging their peltry 
for fish and other commodities. The Quioughnohanocks 
were a small nation of Indians, who dwelt on the south 
side of James River, about ten miles above Jamestown. 
Their chief was always a fast friend to the English. This 
" promise-keeping king, of all the rest, did ever best 
affect us ; and though to his false gods he was very zea- 
lous, yet he would confesse our God as much exceeded 
his as our guns did his bow and arrowes ; and often sent 
our President many presents to pray to his God for raine, 
that his corn might not perish — his own gods being angry." 
26* 



CHAPTER XII. 

While Captain Smith, by his address and energy, was 
thus retrieving the fortunes of the colony, and laying the 
solid foundations of a permanent empire, he received let- 
ters from England, which were very far from doing justice 
to his services. These were brought by Captain Argall, a 
gentleman then engaged in a contraband trade, but who 
afterwards became a governor in the country. They re- 
proached our hero with the necessities of the colony, with 
his hard usage of the natives, and with the failure of the 
ships to return with freights. The accounts of his mode 
of dealing with the savages came from Newport, and others 
of his class and calibre. The stern decision of Smith, his 
knowledge of human nature, his skill in war, his stratagem 
and adventure, — all these, so far superior to the qualities 
possessed by his rivals — had inflamed them with an unap- 
peasable hate and envy. To accuse him and to decry his 
merits and misrepresent his services, was, in fact, to furnish 
the most obvious mode of justification for their own failures 
and defeats. Smith, alone, had succeeded, — succeeded in 
establishing the colony ; — but this was not the sort o.f suc- 
cess which the proprietors at home desired. They had 
set out with false notions of the returns which should flow 
from their expenditure. The history of Spanish conquest, 
always sounding in the precious metals, was continually pre- 
sent to their thoughts ; and their imaginations were too much 
disturbed by the gorgeous vision of uncounted treasure in 
the southern ])arts of America, not to insist, equally in 
nature's and in reason's spite, that the northern regions of 
the New World should unfold spoils of equal value and 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 307 

abundance. To conquer a foothold among the furious 
savages of Apalachia, — to lay deeply and broadly the 
foundations of a great commercial empire — to maintain 
himself, in spite of faction and feeble resources, cold, and 
want, and sickness — with traitors within and unrelenting 
and unsleeping enemies without, — were not such services 
as could impress themselves upon a world which had been 
dazzled by the wondrous good fortune of Cortes in Mexico 
and Fizarro in Peru, or pacify the demands of those more 
immediately interested, who, having unwisely trusted their 
outlay in the hands of incompetent persons, and committed 
numerous blunders by their own misconception of their 
proper policy, were now disposed to wreak their indignation 
upon the only man who had shown himself really respon- 
sible. Smith was to be superseded. A new charter, 
bearing date the 23d May, 1609, was obtained from the 
Crown, containing larger privileges and more ample 
powers than the former. The local Presidency and Coun- 
cil were to be abrogated, and the colonists were expressly 
commanded to yield obedience to those only who should 
receive their appointment from the Council in England. 
Under this new system, Lord Delaware was made Captain- 
general of the colony ; — Sir Thomas Gates his Lieutenant ; 
Sir George Somers, Admiral ; Capt. Newport, Vice Ad- 
miral ; Sir Thomas Dale, High-marshal ; Sir Ferdinando 
Wainman, General of the Horse ; and other ofSccrs were 
designated, and other appointments made, by which the in- 
fant colony of Virginia, which had made no returns, and 
which had barely maintained itself in an uncertain ex- 
istence through the vigilance and courage of one man, was 
to be lifted into an establishment of very imposing exterior. 
The new charter was granted to the Earls of Salisbury, 
Suffolk, Southampton, Pembroke, and other Peers, to the 
number of twenty-one ; and to knights and noble gentlemen 



308 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

almost without number. The enterprise became fashion- 
able. So many persons of power and fortune embarking in 
it, encouraged the more timid capitalists, and enabled the 
Captain-general and his associates to send off such an 
armament as never before had floated in the waters of Vir- 
ginia. Nine ships and five hundred people, were des- 
patched, under the command of Sir Thomas Gates, Sir 
George Somers and Captain Newport. To each of these 
gentlemen, a commission was furnished, with which, the 
first who arrived, was to supersede that by which the 
colony was held. In this first proceeding, was planted the 
seed of difficulty and confusion. Unwilling that either 
should reach the promised land before the other, the three 
Commissioners concluded to embark together in the same 
vessel. They sailed from England, accordingly, in the 
latter part of May, 1609, in a vessel called the Sea- Ven- 
ture, which was parted from the rest of the fleet in a 
hurricane, and wTecked upon the Bermudas. Their lives 
were saved, and, after a long delay and many hardships, 
they finally reached Virginia ; but not until Captain Smith 
had left it, to return to it no more. One other of the ves- 
sels in this expedition shared a worse fate — a small ketch, 
which foundered in the gale. The seven remaining ships 
reached their port in safety. Unadvised of their coming. 
Smith, at their approach, assuming them to be Spaniards, 
prepared for them as enemies. Putting his men under 
arms, and his fort in a posture of defence, and strengthened 
by a large body of Indians, who, glad to conciliate our 
Captain, came forward promptly with an offer of their 
services, he little feared the arrival of the supposed Spa- 
niards, nor doubted that he should encounter them suc- 
cessfully. But he was soon relieved of his apprehensions 
from this quarter, though it is very certain that an invasion 
of Spaciards would have proved less hurtful to the colony 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 309 

than those who came. Among these were some of whom 
we already possess some knowledge. These were Cap- 
tains Martin, Archer and RatclifFe, or Sicklemore, as we 
are told he should properly be called — '^a poore counter- 
feited imposture," as Smith describes him in a letter to 
the Council, " whom I have sent you home lest the com- 
pany should cut his throat." It is a sufficient proof of the 
success with which his enemies work d against him in 
England, that there should have been sent out, on this 
expedition, and in some command, all the persons with 
whom he had been compelled to struggle, in maintaining 
successfully the interests of the colony. These persons, 
unhappily, succeeded in impressing the new colonists 
generally with some share of their ill-feeling towards our 
Captain. They were, accordingly, prepared to dislike and 
distrust him before they had yet encountered his person. 
It was easy to influence them in this manner. The greater 
number among them were profligate youth, whose friends 
were only too well satisfied to give them ample room in 
remote countries, where they might escape the worse des- 
tinies that threatened them at home. Poor gentlemen, 
bankrupt tradesmen, rakes and libertines, such as were 
more apt to ruin than to raise a commonwealth. A small 
sprinkling of better men among them, a few well-designing 
persons, of better sense and more experience, were soon 
disabused of the prejudices which the enemies of Smith 
had striven to inculcate. They had only to see his pro- 
ceedings, and to hear the representations of his old sol- 
diers, to arrive at just conclusions ; but the wholesome 
leaven was quite too small for such a lump, and the colony 
very soon presented a spectacle of most admired uproar 
and confusion. 

Smith, hurt at the injustice of which he had been the 
victim, was disposed to fold his arms, as a quiet and in- 



310 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

different spectator, while tlie new-comers ran riot in 
their abuse of order and authority. His presidency had 
not yet been superseded. The power to take his place 
had only been conferred upon those who had been wrecked 
upon the Bermudas, and his commission was still sove- 
reign against all competitors. But, in his pique, he was 
not disposed to assert its virtues, nor were his enemies 
disposed to acknowledge them. He prepared to return to 
England, and suffered misrule, for some time, to play its 
fantastic tricks, without offering any obstruction to its pro- 
gress. Led by Ratcliffe, Martin and Archer, this " lewd 
rout" passed from one mischievous proceeding to another. 
They assumed the reins of government, and, on a small 
scale, were as wanton as the young charioteer whom 
Phoebus, according to classic fable, entrusted with his 
steeds. At one moment they chose one governor, who 
was soon made to give place to another — to-day they 
were for the old commission, to-morrow for the new, and 
the third day found them flinging away the restraining in- 
fluences of all. " Happie," says one of our authorities, 
" had we beene had they never arrived, and we for ever 
abandoned ; for on earth, for the number, was never more 
confusion or misery than their factions occasioned." Wan- 
ton, indolent and feeble, they presented one of those 
mournful spectacles of impotence and vanity in power, 
which the great poet assumes must make angels weep — a 
spectacle so ridiculous, as well as mournful, that it might 
well prompt their laughter also. The scorn of Smith 
seasoned his indignation. He looked on with pity and 
contempt, until the evil grew too serious to suffer any 
longer such feelings to prevail. He was too little selfish 
in his nature — too much the patriot — to hold himself aloof 
when such dangers threatened the work of his hands, 
which had already cost him so much risk and labor. The 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMI T II . 311 

sturdy followers of his past fortunes, most of whom had 
learned properly to estimate his worth and virtues, were 
true to the colony, and disposed to sustain him in the due 
maintenance of its interests. A part of the newly arrived 
were soon made to see that their hope lay in the energy 
and will which distinguished his command. Having 
waited for some time in the hope that the new commission 
would arrive, upon which he might devolve the legal re- 
sponsibility, it became necessary for the public good that 
he should re-assert his own, and he did so with his wonted 
promptness and resolution. Ratclifie, Archer, and other 
factious spirits, were laid by the heels after a long contest, 
and the strong hand which had so successfully swayed 
the power of this colony for its good, wielded it once more 
for its safety. This was not done without a struggle. " It 
would be too tedious, too strange, and almost incredible," 
says our authority, " should I particularly relate the infi- 
nite dangers, plots and practices, he daily escaped among 
this factious crew ;" but the ringleaders once in prison 
and awaiting their trial, the restoration of order was com- 
paratively easy. To lessen their power of mischief, and 
the tendency to it, Smith distributed them in sufficiently 
large bodies for defence and settlement about the country. 
Mr. West, with a hundred and twenty chosen men, was 
sent to make a settlement at the Falls of James River, and 
Captain Martin, with as many more, to Nansemond. 
These were furnished with provisions according to their 
numbers; and, with tools to work with, and weapons in 
their hands, had it in their power to found and to establish 
themselves in well-fortified and pleasant abodes. 

The disorders of the colony being quelled, and the ma 
chine of government and society once more working fairly 
on its wheels and hinges. Smith evinced the nobleness of 
his nature by giving up his authority. The year of his 



312 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

Presidency was nearly expired, and he yielded his seat to 
Capt. Martin. But Martin had some saving grains of 
sense and honesty, and had hardly taken possession of 
the government before the oppressive weight of its respon- 
sibility, with a conviction of his personal unpopularity, 
overcame his ambition, and he resigned it again into the 
hands of Smith, and hurried back to his establishment at 
Nansemond. But his rule here was quite as unequal to 
the exigency as it would have been with the whole colony 
resting on his shoulders and wisdom. Though kindly 
treated by the Nansemond Indians, yet, in his anticipations 
of mischief, or in his wantonness of power, he surprises 
their chief in the midst of his festivities, and takes posses- 
sion of the island upon which be lived, with all his houses 
and treasure. Here he fortified himself, but so feebly, and 
so bad was the watch which he kept, that the savages 
took his fortress by assault, killed many of his men, res- 
cued their king, and carried off a thousand bushels of corn. 
Smith was at the Falls when intelligence reached him of 
this disaster, together with an entreaty from Martin for 
thirty soldiers. These were sent him, but he showed 
himself so little capable of using them, that they abandon- 
ed him in disgust, and made their way back to James- 
town, where they were soon followed by Martin himself, 
who left his people to take care of themselves. 

The establishment made by West at the Falls was 
scarcely more successful. Smith, making him a visit to 
examine the new settlement, was confounded to find 
West on his way to Jamestown, already sick of his experi- 
ment. The survey which our Captain made of what had 
been done, proved the competence of the leader to be no 
greater than that of Martin. The settlement had been 
fixed on a site which had no single quality to recommend 
it. The spot was so low as to be liable to the inundations 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 313 

of the river. It was also subject to other and equally seri- 
ous objections. Smith, as usual, compelled to take the 
business in hand, determined to abandon the place, and to 
seek another of more eligible qualities. To effect this, he 
negotiated with Powhatan for the district of country which 
went by that chieftain's name. Hither he proceeded to 
transfer the colony which had been assigned to West, but 
he was met by resistance and final violence on the part of the 
infatuated wretches whom he strove to serve. Under the 
impression that the territory in which West had set them 
down was one abundant in the precious metal, they refus- 
ed to abandon it ; — refused, indeed, to suffer among them 
any addition to their numbers, even from among their own 
people, lest the individual share of spoil to each should 
be too greatly diminished. Besides^ they were not dispos- 
ed to yield much deference to the tenure by which Smith 
held the Presidency — looking momently to the arrival of 
those by whom his commission was to be superseded. 
Smith, at first, pitying their blindness and folly, endea- 
vored to convince them of the reasons by which he was 
moved in his selection of a site for their establishment. 
But they treated his expostulations and authority with 
equal contempt. He was not the man to submit coolly to 
such indignities, and, though attended by five men only, 
he proceeded to take certain of the most factious of their 
number into custody. But they did not suffer him to pro- 
ceed. Remote from home, from the restraining and cor- 
recting influences of civilized life, and desperate in their 
resolve to seize the gold which they believed to be grow- 
ing in the fertile earth around them, and to be had for the 
gathering, they arrayed themselves in force against the 
audacious individual, whom they had been taught to hate 
and to distrust from the beginning, by whom they were to 
be torn from their Dorado. Five men against one hun- 
21 



314 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

dred and twenty, suggested a greater inequality of force 
than it was v/ithin the courage even of a spirit so fearless 
as that of Smith to encounter. He retreated to his boat, 
accordingly, and with that readiness of resource which 
seemed never to desert him, he changed his plan of attack 
by arms, for one which promised less peril and greater 
success. He surprised the vessel which contained all 
their stores and provisions, and, after a delay of several 
days, in which he strove to afford the mutineers time and 
counsel for return to their obedience, he set sail for James- 
town, leaving these besotted wretches to their deserts. 

They did not long elude their proper punishment. With 
the same wild and reckless spirit with which they had 
met the attempts of Smith to bring them to order, and put 
them in safety^ they behaved to the simple savages in 
whose vicinity they had settled themselves. These they 
robbed and maltreated, dispossessed them of their food 
and stores, despoiled and drove them from their dwellings, 
and, when they complained, took them into custody. The 
Indians, as soon as they perceived the hostile attitude 
which they took with regard to Smith, whom they had 
learned equally to venerate and fear, volunteered in num- 
bers to fight his battles. They complained to him, with 
justice, that he had brought among them, on the plea of 
protecting them, a far worse enemy ihan they had ever 
before had reason to fear ; and urged that, since they 
could not look to him for protection, ho must not be sur- 
prised or offended if they struggled to protect themselves. 
Smith, of course, refused them aid, and exhorted them to 
forbearance. He counselled the refractory whites of their 
danger from this source ; but had the fortune, like Cas- 
sandra, to have his predictions laughed at. The mutineers 
soon paid the penalty of unbelief. The departure of Smith 
was the signal for the rising of the savages. He had 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 315 

scarcely set sail when a simultaneous attack was made 
upon the fort, and such of the whites as were straggling 
in the woods. Many were slain, and the rest so frighten- 
ed, that it was no longer a difficult matter for Smith to 
obtain a hearino;. His vessel having grounded in the 
river, within reach of the terrified fugitives, they appealed 
to him for protection, and at once submitted theniselves to 
his merc3^ For once, our Captain found the Indians to be 
excellent auxiliaries. Taking advantage of their fears, 
he selected six or seven of the ringleaders for punish- 
ment, and having laid them by the heels, conducted the 
rest of them to the proposed settlement at Powhatan ; 
where he took possession of the fortress, " readie built 
and prettily fortified with poles and barkes of trees," as it 
had been raised by that sturdy emperor. The work is 
described as sufficient to have protected them against all 
the savages in Virginia : and there were lodging houses 
ready for use, and more than two hundred acres of land 
in planting condition. Of so much strength and beauty 
"was the site thus secured to these undeserving runagates, 
that Smith preferred it to all others he had seen in the 
country. Accordingly, he called it Nonsuch. He had 
subdued his malcontents for a season ; seated them in 
abodes of pleasantness ; and, reconciling them to the Indi- 
ans, left them to the enjoyment of a peace and security 
which their merits had scarcely obtained of themselves. 
Captain West, making his appearance, now that all the 
troubles of the settlement had been composed, had nearly 
again revived them by the mistaken effi^rts which he made 
for the release of the mutineers who had been selected for 
an example. He succeeded in prevailing with Smith — 
who was now completely sickened with the toil of serving 
men equally against their destiny and will — to give them 
up. This was done, and our Captain departed for James- 



36 LIFEOF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

town. But Nonsuch^ however desirable and beautiful, 
could not long content these unhappy people ; who, pos- 
sessed with the dream of finding gold in the country of the 
Monacans, as soon as they had recovered from the fright 
which the savages had given them, once more abandoned 
their settlement, and made their way back to that from 
which they had been expelled. We need not pursue their 
history. From this moment the connection ceases be- 
tween them and our adventurer. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Our Captain begins to show a certain degree of weariness 
and exhaustion, in the protracted struggle which he has 
been compelled to maintain, as well against, as in behalf of, 
the oddly assorted community confided to his charge. 
The elastic spirit of youth with which he rather rejoiced 
in difficulties, even as the brave swimmer prefers to strug- 
gle against the billowy currents, than float without effort 
on the slumberous lake, no longer buoys him up against 
all opposition ; and the sense of service treated with injus- 
tice, and of true and substantial merits denied their du«, 
acknowledgment, reconciles him to those irregularities, 
and that wilful disposition to err and suffer, on the part of 
the settlers, which he has hitherto encountered with the firm 
and decisive rule of the patriarch. When, therefore, the 
people under West " returned againe to the open ayre at 
West's fort, abandoning Nonsuch" — that delightful, secure, 
and sheltered spot, which he had been at such trouble to 
procure for them from Powhatan — he makes no further 
opposition, and sees them hurrying anew to " the height 
of their former factions," with an indifference which be- 
trays the exhaustion of his patience, rather than any 
want of sympathy in the interests of the colony. The 
proprietors of the establishment seem to have kept pace 
with the colonists, in weaning him from those attachments 
to the region and to the enterprise, which naturally grew 
out of his connection with them ; and it needed but a very 
small immediately impelling motive to cause him to aban- 
don Virginia, as he had just abandoned to their fortunes, 
27* 



318 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

the unstable and obstinate people under West. That im- 
pelling circunastance was now at hand. Passing down the 
river, on his way from Nonsuch to Jamestown, an event 
occurred which nearly deprived him of life. While he 
slept, his powder-bag was accidentally fired by one of the 
crew, and the powder exploding, tore and lacerated his 
body in a most shocking manner. Roused by the sudden 
torture from his sleep, he leapt instantly into the river, 
from which he was extricated with the greatest difficulty, 
and not before he was almost drowned. In this condition, 
without the means of comfort or surgical assistance, he 
had yet nearly a hundred miles to travel in an open boat 
before he could arrive at either. Suffering thus dreadfully, 
he was not permitted to forget the cares of his public trust, 
in his physical disquiets, but found it necessary, on reach- 
ing Jamestown, to address his energies and thoughts much 
more to the troubles of those around him, than to any of 
his own. There he found everything in disorder from the 
activity of Ratcliffe, Archer, and the other malcontents 
whom he had arrested for their mutinies. The time for 
their trial was approaching, and their guilty consciences 
counselled them rather to anticipate that period by new 
commotions, than quietly await its issues. Accordingly, 
these creatures were busy, and so active and audacious 
that Captain Smith was compelled, on his return, maimed 
and mangled as he was, to put the settlement in such trim 
as would enable it to meet the exigencies of a sudden as- 
sault. While thus making his preparations, and particu- 
larly striving to increase the store of provisions for the 
garrison, his miserable condition of body — " unable to 
stand, and neere bereft of his senses by reason of his tor- 
ment" — they conceived a more prompt and happy expe- 
dient for escaping trial. His feebleness inspired their 
courage, and emboldened them to try an experiment, which, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 319 

in his armor, erect, and " ready with his conclusions," 
their cowardly spirits would never for a moment have enter- 
tained. They laid their plans to assassinate him in his 
bed. But the heart of the base creature who had been 
chosen to do the deed, failed him at the proper moment. 
He dared not "give fire to that mercilesse pistoll." We 
are not told whether the waking eye of Smith encountered 
the assassin, but, if it did, he was probably quelled and 
paralyzed, as was the savage Cimbrian who had been sent 
by the magistracy of Minturnee to butcher Caius Marius. 
The voice, the eye, and probably the bare aspect of a man 
whom even the worst enemies of Smith in Virginia had 
been wont to fear, must have done, for his safety, that 
which his own skill and strength could no longer have 
achieved in this moment of his impotence. The murderer 
shrunk from the duty assigned him, and other modes be- 
came necessary by which the confederate malignants should 
still elude the justice which they feared. To usurp the 
government seemed the only process. Smith was advised 
of their plans in time to baffle them ; and, at this period, his 
old soldiers gave him a new proof of their loyalty and 
attachment. Gathering around his bed, they importuned 
him to suffer them at once to take off the heads of the 
conspirators, and thus, at a single stroke, take away those 
branches, which had been so fruitful of disease and hurt to 
the growth of the colony. But Smith, with great magna- 
nimity, refused to avail himself of this short and summary 
method of revenge. He was sick of the struggle, and 
saw no reason to persevere in a conflict, for which, whether 
right or wrong, whether he failed or triumphed, he was 
still likely to suffer blame. His hurts of body contributed 
also in great degree to lessen those nervous energies which 
miffht have made his mind ea^er to redress itself — to 
punish his enemies, and to overcome all the difficulties 



320 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

which they might raise upon his path. But why should 
he still continue to build for others ? Why build for 
those who, coming after him, might only cast down his 
fabrics.'' His labors for several years — the arduous con- 
flict which he had maintained for the establishment of the 
colony — the firm basis upon which he had founded the 
little community from Europe, in spite of all savage oppo- 
sition, in the forests of America — ail that he had done, 
with what recompense, and with what toil, and peril, and 
annoyance — was about to pass to strangers ! What mo- 
tive for farther exertion, with a frame writhing in agony, 
with a spirit vexed and wearied by disappointment ? His 
resolves were more pacific and more honorable than his old 
soldiers would have had them. Contenting himself with 
taking order for the safety of the colony, by placing the 
government in the hands of Mr. Percy, he sailed in the 
autumn of 1609 from Virginia, which he was never again 
to behold. 

Of his services in founding the English colony, the his- 
tory of which has so far been his own, we have endea- 
vored to afford an account as lively and correct as possible. 
We cannot doubt that it survived only through his wis- 
dom, his courage, and his great enterprise. He was the 
master spirit of his little empire ; for one year its presi- 
dent ; and, during the whole term of his stay in the coun- 
try — something more than two years — its chief support 
and security. To those accustomed to measure events by 
their magnitude alone, the petty details which character- 
ize an infant settlement such as we have described — the 
small cares of providing food for wandering men, and con- 
tending for their lives against bands of naked savages — it 
will seem something of an extravagance, not to say absurd- 
ity, to claim for him, whose life is consumed in such 
performances, the merits of great heroism. But we are 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 321 

free to express our conviction, that the successful conflict 
with the nminor necessities of life, in strange situations, 
against active hostility from vv^ithout, and an antipathy 
within quite as active, though less overt, and with such 
inadequate resources as were in the possession of our 
Captain, require resources of thought, will, courage, 
energy, and magnanimity, quite as great as are usually 
exercised by the victorious chieftain ; the vastness of 
whose performance^ alone, rather than its value, and the 
obstacles which have opposed it, constitutes his whole 
claim to renown and eminence. Smith, in the employ- 
ment of a company who had but a vague idea of their own 
objects, and an imperfect notion of the sort of adventure 
upon which he went, was continually under the check and 
rebuke of a power which could neither direct his labors 
nor appreciate his performances. They could find no 
merit in obtaining a foothold in a foreign and hostile re- 
gion, from which their extravagant fancies anticipated 
nothing less than treasure. The vast utility of what he 
succeeded in doing, in founding his colony, in spite of 
inadequate numbers, deficient materials, starvation, sick- 
ness, and mutiny, was not to be felt or understood, where 
such insane fancies prevailed in the face of all sober rea- 
son and reflection. That he should not have satisfied his 
employers who sat in silken security at home, is by no 
means matter of surprise. That he should not have pleas- 
ed the effeminate and the profligate with whose preserva- 
tion he was burdened, and whom he made to toil in un- 
wonted labors, when it was their passion to live wholly 
on the toils and risks of others, is quite as little within 
the range of expectation ; and that his career should have 
proved grateful to the savage tribes whom he overcame — 
whom he alone could overcome — whom he subdued to 
T)eace- — whom he made tributary to his necessities — and 



322 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

upon whose territories he fixed a foot so fast that no 
improvidence in his successors, however extreme, could 
enable them to fling it off — was not within the bounds of 
reason and belief. And yet, in the respect of all these, 
he secured such a place, that we find the savages volunteer- 
ing their arms to strengthen his power against the profligate 
and refractory of his own people ; — we find the veterans 
whom he had trained to successes by his strict and undis- 
criminating justice, forgetting all their prejudices, and 
proffering to bring him the heads of his enemies ; — and 
in regard to his general merits in the establishment of the 
colony, we discover that, surviving all the misrepresenta- 
tions of that scurvy pack, the Archers, the Newports, and 
the Ratcliffes, the world of England, very soon after he 
left Virginia, justly accorded him the credit of being its 
true founder and sole parent. Time, that great avenger, 
has ratified the awards of justice, and posterity confirms 
the decision which even contemporaneous history was dis- 
posed to make in the case of our hero. But, unless our 
narrative has satisfied the reader of his great and superior 
merits, any summary at^ this stage in our progress will 
utterly fail to supply the deficiency. It will be enough 
here to furnish that which we have at the hands of certain 
of his followers in Virginia. One of the authorities from 
which we derive our materials, thus rudely but forcibly 
accumulates, in one paragraph, and characterizes his per- 
formances. " By this you may see for all those crosses, 
trecheries, and dissentions, how he wrestled and overcame 
(without bloodshed) all that happened ; also what good 
was done ; how few dyed ; what food the country natu- 
rally affordeth ; what small cause there is men should 
starve, or be murthered by the salvages, that have discre- 
tion to manage them, with courage and Industrie. The 
two first yeares, though by his adventures, he had oft 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 323 

brought the salvages to a tractable trade, yet you see 
how the envious authoritie ever crossed him, and frustrat- 
ed his best endeavors. But it wrought in him that expe- 
rience and estimation amongst the salvages as otherwise 
it had bin impossible he had ever effected what he did. 
Notwithstanding the many miserable, yet generous and 
worthy adventures he had oft and long endured in the 
wide world, yet, in this case, he was againe to learne his 
lecture by experience. Which, with thus much adoe 
having obtained, it was his ill chance to end, when he had 
but onely learned how to begin." 

This is w^ell and honestly stated. The writer proceeds 
to hint what was the contrast between his successes and 
those of the persons by whom he was succeeded. " And 
though he left those unknowne difficulties made easy and 
familiar to his unlawful successors (who onely by living 
in Jamestowne presumed to know more than all the world 
could direct them) now, — though they had all his soul- 
diers, with a tripple power, and twice tripple better 
meanes, — by what they have done in his absence, the 
world may see what they would have done in his presence 
had he not prevented their indiscretions : it doth justly 
prove what cause he had to send them for England, and 
that he was neither factious, mutinous, nor dishonest. But 
they have made it more plaine since his return for Eng- 
land, having his absolute authoritie freely in their power, 
with all the advantages and opportunity that his labours 
had effected." 

It does not belong to our present labors to continue the 
history of events in Virginia after the departure of our 
hero, yet, in confirmation of the preceding extract, and to 
show by relative results what were his real claims upon 
the admiration of those who appreciated the deeds of a 
proper manhood, it may be well to mention that his de- 



324 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

parture from the colony was followed by misery and 
disaster. The seditious portion of the population got the 
ascendency ; Martin and West abandoned their separate 
settlements with the loss of half their men ; the Indians, 
as soon as they v/ere sure of the absence of that command- 
ing genius which had always held them in such complete 
subjection, revolted and murdered all whom they met. 
Instead of one, the colonists had twenty Presidents, each 
with his bullies and retainers ; the provisions which Smith 
had gathered with so much care were soon wasted, and 
West and Ratcliffe, going forth to trade for supplies with 
the Indians, the former fled to England, and the latter, set 
upon by the savages, was slain with thirty of his soldiers : 
but one boy of the number escaped, preserved by the mer- 
ciful interposition of Pocahontas. It was not long before 
the worst enemies and maligners of Smith, subdued by 
suffering and danger to a proper sense of their equal feeble- 
ness and undesert, deplored his absence, and, in the bitter- 
ness of their hearts, cursed their destinies by which that 
event had been precipitated. 

Such was the distress and suffering of the colonists, from 
famine and the unremitting hostility of the savages, that, of 
five hundred persons whom Smith left behind him in the 
colony, there remained living, at the end of six months, 
scarcely more than sixty — men, women, and children — 
and these preserved a wretched existence by living upon 
roots and herbs, acorns, and wild nuts, and berries of 
the wood. From the Indians they got little else than 
scoffs and wounds. They traded away their swords and 
firelocks for food, and thus fell easier victims to their foes. 
Famine, in its most horrid forms, assailed them. The 
very skins of their horses were devoured. A portion 
amono; them disinterred an Indian, who had been slain and 
buried, and, having eaten him, followed up the horrid 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 325 

" taste for human food, by preying upon one another. One 
miserable wretch slew his own wife, and had devoured a 
portion of the carcass before he was detected. But we 
gladly turn from a spectacle so wretched, which nothing 
but the rare conduct, ability and courage of our hero had 
kept from being seen in the colony before. The day 
of retribution was not long deferred after his departure, 
and no more triumphant attestation of his wonderful 
merits, for such a service, could be found, than in the con- 
trast between the history of Virginia during his adminis- 
tration, and that of the first six months by which it was 
succeeded. We must now follow him to England. 
28 



BOOK FOURTH. 



CHAPTER I. 

Of " our Captaine," returned to his native land, we hear 
little or nothing for several years. A period of physical 
repose seems to have been necessary to his career after 
so long a conflict with danger and privation. It is proba- 
ble that he suffered for some time after reaching England 
from his injuries by gunpowder ; for, just before leaving 
Virginia, we are told, " so grievous were his wounds, and 
so cruel his torments, that few expected he could live." 
He did live, but his cure was probably a tedious one ; and 
habits of reading and study, induced by the confinement 
of his chamber, in all probability opened new resources to 
his mind, particularly at a period of great physical exhaus- 
tion. It is likely that he conceived, while in this situa- 
tion, those plans of study, and followed out those inqui- 
ries in history, which led him subsequently to become a 
somewhat voluminous writer. In 1612 he published his 
" map of Virginia, with a description of the countrey, the 
commodities, people, government and religion." To this 
work was annexed the history published under the name 
of William Simmons, " Doctour of Divinitie ;" to which 
the biographers of Smith have been so largely indebted. 
And we have no doubt that, during the interval between 
his departure from Virginia, his voyages to, and disco- 
very in New England, about five years, he employed no 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 327 

small portion of his time in a course of study, of which his 
youth had been neglectful — supplying those deficiencies 
of his early education, which he might ascribe as much 
to his own erratic temper as to the indifference and self- 
ishness of his guardians. Smith, indeed, became some- 
thing of a literary man. He held the pen quite as vigor- 
ously as he did the sword ; used it with a flourish ; and, 
if frequently rude and incoherent in his style, he some- 
times made ample amends for his short-comings by snatch- 
ing " a grace beyond the reach of art." He was bold in 
the U9e of figures ; and, where he wrote from his own 
experience, and without affectations, he was sometimes 
uncommonly spirited, and even eloquent. His associates 
seem to have been men of letters. Some of his followers 
in Virginia w^ere verse makers like himself. The custom 
of that time was to hail the appearance of the successful 
author with ode and sonnet, insisting upon his merits and 
peculiar claims upon the muse. It was a custom that had 
its beneficial uses, though liable to some objections. His 
volumes are introduced to the public by epistles from his 
admirers. R. Brathwait tells him : 

" Two greatest shires of England did thee beare, 
Renowned Yorkshire, Gaunt-stild Lancashire :" 

reminds him of his conquests over the affections of Tra- 
gabigzanda, the Lady Callamata, Pocahontas, &c., all of 
whom did for him 

" What love with modesty could doe ;" 

and concludes, punning upon his name, with the wish that 
we had 

" Many such Smiths in this our Israel." 

Anthony Fereby vrrites in better, and bolder, and truer 
verses ; — 



328 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

" Thou hast a course most full of honour runne : 

Envy may snarle as dogges against the sunne, 

May bark, not bite ; for what deservedly 

With thy life's danger, valour, policy, 

Gluaint, warlike stratagems, ability 

And judgment thou hast got, fame sets so high 

Detraction cannot reach : thy worth shall stand 

A patterne to succeeding ages, and 

Clothed in thine aione lines ever shall add grace 

Unto thy native country and thy race," 

Edward Jordan writes in a long strain, of which these 
lines will serve our purpose : 

" I know none 
That like thyself hast come, and gone, and mime, 
%p such praiseworthy actions." 

Richard James, after enumerating the martial virtues 
of his subject, thus insists upon his literary as well as mili- 
tary merits : 

" Whose sword and pen in bold, rujffe, martial-wise, 
Put forth to try and beare away the prize 
From Caesar and Blaize Monluc." 

M. Hawkins notices yet other qualities which the lover 
of military glory does not often insist upon — 

" None can truly say thou didst deceive 

Thy soldiers, sailors, merchants or thy friends, 

But all from thee a true account receive." 

He adds — and thus furnishes the proof of what he asserts, 

" Yet naught to thee all these thy virtues bring. " 

Richard Meade gives him that credit of 

" Founding a common weale 
In faire America," 

the proofs of which are, we humbly think, conclusively 
embodied in this volume ; and so we are furnished with 
the testimonies of Edward Ingham, M. Gartner, Brian 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 329 

O'Rourke, S. Tanner and others, all of which prove the 
esteem if not the poetical endowments of his contempora- 
ries. Some of his followers in Virginia are among these 
tribute-bringers. J. Coddington signs himself " your 
sometime souldier, now templar." Raleigh Crashaw 
writes, " in the deserved honour of my honest and worthy 
Captain, John Smith and his work." He says, among 
other things, 

" With due descretion and undaunted heart, 
I oft so well have seene thee act thy part 
In deepest plunge of hard extremitie, 
As foret the troops of proudest foes to flee, 
Though men of greater rajik and less desert, 
Would pish-a.wa,y thy praise — it cannot start 
From the true owner." 

" Michael Phettiplace, Will Phettiplace and Richard 
Wyffin, gentlemen and souldiers under Captain Smith's 
command," give similar evidence, but in greater detail : 

" Thou heldst the King of Paspahegh enchained, 
Thou all alone this salvage sterne didst take. 
Pamaunkee's king wee saw thee captive make 
Among seven hundred of his stoutest men, 
To murder thee and us resolved, when 
Fast by the haire thou ledst this salvage grim, 
Thy pistol! at his breast," &c. 

Of Smith's own lines the specimens are few, and they 
do not impress us with the poetry of his verse, though his 
prose writings are full of evidence that he possessed a 
warm and lively fancy. There is, at the opening of his 
work about New England, a copy of verses entitled the 
" Sea-marke," which appear as coming from his pen. 
They possess considerable merit, and are decidedly better 
than many other samples of this order which have been pre- 
served to us. They remind us of such writers as John 

Davies and Philip Quarles, and have that peculiar quaint- 

28* 



330 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

ness of tone which marked the verses of the EHzabethan 
period. It is but fair that we give them to the reader in 
this connection. They are better lines than those of his 
eulogists. 

THE SEA-MARKE. 

Aloofe, aloofe, and come no neare, 
The dangers doe appeare, 
Which, if my niine had not beene, 
You had not scene : 
V I only lie upon this shelfe 

To be a marke to all 
Which on the same may fall, 
That none may perish but myself. 

If in or outward you be bound 

Do not fofget to sound ; 

Neglect of that was caused of this 

To steer amisse. 

The seas were calm, the winde was faire, 

That made me so secure, 

That now I must endure 
All weathers, be they foule or faixe. 

The winter's cold, the summer's heate 

Alternatively beat 

Upon my bruised sides, that rue, 

Because too true, 

That no reliefe can ever come ; 

But why should I despaire 

Being promised so faire. 
That there shall be a day of Dome. 

The moral counsel in these verses is not confined to the 
seaman. The caution was such as Smith practised whe- 
ther on land or sea. Ke had, in rare proportion, that 
" due discretion" for which his admirer gives him praise, 
along with the merit of " great valiantnesse." Certainly, 
never was the courage of the soldier more happily coupled 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 331 

with the calm over-ruHng judgment of the Captain than in 
the case of Smith. 

Such, then, for five years after he left Virginia seem 
to have been the exercises — we must not call them amuse- 
ments — in which our adventurer indulged. But though 
he read in books, and mixed with literary men, his studies 
had but one direction. The books which he grappled 
were those of adventure and discovery. The books he 
wrote were of war, travel, and colonization ; how coun- 
tries were to be explored and settled ; and how men were 
to be trained for such objects and emploj'^ments. He was 
not forgetful of Virginia. His heart was still fondly set 
upon the fortunes of that colony. After alleging, in the 
opening of his treatise entitled " The Pathway to Expe- 
rience to erect a Plantation," that " all our plantations 
have been so foyled and abused, their best good willes 
have been for the most part discouraged and disgraced ;" 
— he adds, '^ but pardon me if I offend in loving that I 
have cherished truly, by the losse of my prime, fortunes, 
meanes and youth." This is a melancholy sentiment, 
which is but too frequently heard to fall from the lips of 
those who fall the victims to their own enthusiasm, in the 
service of the selfish. His youth — speaking comparatively 
■ — gone, his means exhausted, his successes questioned, 
and the prospect of future employment small, the forward 
glance of Smith must have shown him but a gloomy and 
cheerless pathway. He might well look back upon the 
history of past struggles in Virginia with mixed feelings 
of fondness and mortification. He had been successful 
there ; he had done what no other person could have 
done ; and of this neither malice nor envy could despoil 
his name. His successors were offering-daily proof to the 
nation which tended to the elevation of Smith's abilities 
and virtues. We have already afforded a glimpse of the 



332 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

ruin and disaster by which his departure had been distin- 
guished. The continued history of the settlement while 
he lay unemployed in England, conclusively showed how 
entirely the colony had been indebted to the one man for 
its preservation in past years. To this history we must 
return during the period of Smith's sojourn in England ; 
not so much with a view to its details, as with regard to 
the fortunes of certain individuals in whom our sympathies 
have been awakened by the previous narrative. The 
name of Pocahontas is too nearly associated with that of 
Smith to suffer us to lose her from our sight ; nor can we 
part abruptly with the grim chief, her shrewd and politic 
old father. These, with the remarkable savage, Ope- 
chancanough, will demand just enough of our attention to 
give a dramatic interest to our biography. 

A continual change of governors followed the departure 
of Smith, and indicated quite as much as anything else 
the evil administration of the colony. Percy succeeded 
Smith ; was succeeded by Sir Thomas Gates ; he by Lord 
Delaware ; Delaware by Percy again ; Percy by Sir Tho- 
mas Dale ; Dale by Gates again ; Gates by Dale once 
more ; and Dale by Mr. George Yeardly ; and all these 
changes were made in the short space of six years. In 
this brief period the colonists were deeply and irretrieva- 
bly embroiled with the Indians, whom they soon began to 
massacre, and whose villages they devoted to the flames. 
They were followed by flames and massacre in turn. The 
Indians, driven to fury, took courage against their tyrants ; 
and what with their hostility, and the idleness and mutinous 
dispositions of the colonists, the latter were soon in danger 
of famine. They were saved only by supplies from Eng- 
land. New towns were established, and old ones taken 
from the savages. The temper of Powhatan was not im- 
proved by these events. The sympathy which Poca- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 333 

hontas expressed for the pale-faces had estranged from 
her the affections of the vindictive old man. She lived 
with him no longer, but found her abode in some secresy 
with her relations, the King and Queen of Potomack. 
She was no longer able to influence her father's mind in 
behalf of the English captives, and she fled from exhi- 
bitions of cruelty which her entreaties failed to arrest. 
She thought herself safe in the keeping of her relatives. 
She was yet to find herself painfully deceived. The 
English, under Capt. Argall, obtained intelligence of her 
hiding place, and the cupidity of Japazaws and his wife, 
with whom she found shelter, was excited by the bribes 
of Argall. They were prevailed upon to bring her on 
board the ships of the English. Pocahontas had already 
seen the great canoes, but the wife of Japazaws had been 
less fortunate. Her curiosity became a passion which 
must be gratified, and Pocahontas yielded to her entrea- 
ties. Why should she fear evil at the hands of the Eng- 
lish ? She, who had so frequently interposed to save 
them — who was even then under the frown of her father, 
because of her unnatural love for his enemies ! Certainly, 
unless by assuming for them a character of the utmost 
ingratitude, she had no reason to apprehend treachery 
from them. 

Her confidence was misplaced. Once in the vessel of 
Argall, she was decoyed into the gun-room, and there 
informed that she was a prisoner. Her prayers availed 
her nothing. Her tears were wasted upon the selfish 
nature of the English captain. Old Japazaws and his 
treacherous wife were loud in their bowlings and entrea- 
ties, the better to persuade the unhappy girl of their inno- 
cence, but they were quite satisfied when they were put 
ashore with their copper-kettle, which had been the price 
of their miserable treachery. 



334 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

The lesson which Argall thus put in practice was taken 
out of Spanish books. Failing to compass the capture of 
the king, his daughter was a prize that promised a goodly 
ransom. She was the favorite of her sire — had been the 
nonpareil in the days of Captain Smith's administration. 
It was assumed that Powhatan would pay with liberal 
hands that she might be restored to his eyes. A messenger 
was dispatched to him. He was told that his daughter 
could only be ransomed by a prompt restoration, to the 
English, of all the men, the guns, tools and weapons, which 
he had obtained by theft, purchase or conquest from the 
English. From Smith, Powhatan never succeeded in pro- 
curing arms. But the factious and lazy colonists, after his 
departure, in the loose rule which followed, procured their 
corn and tobacco from the savages by giving them their 
swords and matchlocks. Smith says sarcastically, " And 
the loving salvages, their kinde friends, they trained so 
well up to shoot in a piece, to hunt and kill their fowle, 
they became more expert than our owne countrymen." 

It was necessary to recover the weapons so improvi- 
dently entrusted to their hands, and hence the conditions 
for the ransom of Pocahontas. They were too stringent 
for the ambitious nature of Powhatan, though the news of 
his daughter's capture troubled him much beyond all ordi- 
nary cause of grief. He made an effort to obtain her 
release. He sent back seven English prisoners, with each 
an unserviceable musket. He promised them, upon the 
release of his daughter, to make them satisfaction for all 
injuries, to enter with them into a treaty of peace, and to 
give them five hundred bushels of corn. But this did not 
satisfy her captors. They demanded that he should return 
everything, give up his whole treasure of English arms, 
upon which he had set his heart from the first moment of 
his knowledge of their use. The love of the father was 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 335 

not equaj to the ambition of the king. He indignantly re- 
fused any answer to the demand, and for some time they 
heard nothing from him. They carried her up to Wero- 
wocomo under a strong guard of one hundred and fifty 
men, apprised him that they came to restore her to his 
arms, but repeated the original terms of her ransom. He 
refused to see them, and answered their propositions only 
with scorn and defiance. Some skirmishes ensued, in 
which the Indians suffered some injury and had their houses 
burnt, but the stern old emperor was implacable. The 
brothers of Pocahontas were permitted to visit her on 
board of the English vessel, but the concession led to no- 
thing. The whites were compelled to return to James- 
town, leaving the savages more embittered than ever 
against them. 

But a new agent was busy in bringing about a pacifica- 
tion, upon which neither the English nor the Indians had 
made any calculation. This was love. Pocahontas was 
now about eighteen years of age. She had, from her ear- 
liest knowledge of the English, been impressed with their 
superiority. She had loved them as a race beyond her 
OM'n, and had given her entire veneration to their sagacious 
leader. A tenderer sentiment consoled her in her capti- 
vity. Her affections were won by John Rolfe, an Eng- 
lishman of good family and worth. His addresses were 
sanctioned by Sir Thomas Dale, the then Governor of 
Virginia, and finally received the sanction of Powhatan. 
But he would not risk his person to be present at the mar- 
riage. He sent one of her uncles, Opachisco, and two of 
his sons, to witness the ceremonies, which were solemnized 
in the spring of 1613. This event softened the asperities 
between the opposing races. It subdued the hate, if it did 
not secure the love of Powhatan for the stranger people, 
and a treaty of peace, followed by a resumption of all 



336 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

friendly relations, was the result of an event which all par- 
ties considered auspicious. " Powhatan's daughter," says 
Sir Thomas Dale, in a letter from Jamestown, dated June 
18, 1614, " I caused to be carefully instructed in the 
Christian religion, who, after she had made such progress 
therein, renounced publicly her country's idolatry, openly 
confessed her Christian faith, was, as she desired, baptized, 
and is since married to an English gentleman of good un- 
derstanding (as by his letter unto me, containing the rea- 
sons of his marriage unto her, you may perceive) — ano- 
ther knot to bind the knot the stronger. Her father and 
friends gave approbation of it, and her uncle gave her to 
him in the church. She lives civilly and lovingly with 
hinr and I trust will increase in goodnesse as the know- 
leage of God increaseth in her. She will goe into Eng- 
land with mee, and were it but the gaining of this one 
such, I will think my time, toile and present stay well 
spent." 



CHAPTER 11. 

The resources of Captain Smith were no doubt very much 
diminished by the hfe of comparative repose which he led 
in England, and by the expenses attending his cure. On 
this subject we are left wholly to conjecture. But, whe- 
ther he finally obeyed the impulses of his nature, or the 
necessities of his condition, we find him in 1614 engaging 
in new perils and adventures, such as he had endured and 
abandoned in Virginia. It is safe to assume, that a tem- 
perament so active and a mind so curious after discovery, 
could not rest in idleness, whatever might have been his 
worldly means. His studies were of a sort to keep up in 
his bosom a passion for adventure ; and his spirit yearned 
to lay bare the secret resources of that new continent, in 
the fate of which his sympathies were deeply engaged. 
He longed to emulate the achievements of the Spaniards 
in the southern portions of the country, though with a 
very decided English abhorrence of their faithless and 
bloody processes for conquest. To seek Virginia a second 
time, though Virginia really seemed to need his genius for 
its preservation, was not to be entertained, while a sense 
of the injustice with which he had been treated by the 
proprietors of that colony, was still fresh and rankling in 
his memory. His eyes were fixed, accordingly, on that 
portion of the English discovery which was then entitled 
North Virginia. Attempts had been made, probably with 
his advice, by a company of London merchants, who sent 
forth one or more expeditions in this quarter. A settle- 
ment had actually been made by the Plymouth Company, 
29 



338 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

on the coast of Maine, in 1607, and a small colony had 
passed a cheerless winter in that region. Their experi- 
ence was such as to prompt their abandonment of the 
country, of which they gave a most discouraging account ; 
the effect of which was to prevent other attempts of the 
same sort, until the peculiar genius of Smith was brought 
to shape the enterprise. In the month of April, 1614, he 
set sail from London with two ships. The expenses of 
the outfit were defrayed by himself and four London mer- 
chants. At this time, the land to which his prows were 
directed, was regarded as a most inhospitable desert — a 
vast tract of barren waste and rock — which was known 
in Europe as Nurembega, Canada, Penaquida, North 
Virginia, &c., precisely as it suited the tastes of those to 
call it by whom its uninviting coasts were ranged. Nor 
was it the leading purpose of the present voyage that a 
settlement should be made in the country. The scheme 
of the adventurers was partly the whale-fishery, partly a 
search after mines of gold and copper ; and, in the event 
of their failure in the search after these objects, then " fish 
and furs were to be their refuge." But " we found this 
whale-fishing a costly conclusion. ^We saw many, and 
spent much time in chasing them, but could not kill any." 
The search after gold was as little profitable. " It was 
rather the master's device to get a voyage that projected 
it, than any knowledge we had of any such matter." 
Fish and furs next demanded the attention of our voya- 
gers, but here again it was discovered that their quest 
was likely to be in vain. " By our late arrival and long 
lingering about the whale, the prime of both these seasons 
was past ere we perceived it." Some fish were taken, 
but not enough to defray the charge of the expedition. 
About sixty thousand cod were the fruit of a month's 
fishing of eighteen men, while Smith, with eight others, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 339 

ranging the coast in an open boat, obtained from the 
savages nriore than ten thousand beaver, one hundred mar- 
tin, and as many otter skins. These were procured at 
small expense. On this progress, Smith amused himself 
with making: a chart of the coast, and writins; down all the 
particulars M^iich he could gather of the country, to which 
he gave the name of New England, which it now bears, 
and will probably bear for ever. — 

Within six months after leaving the Downs, he returned 
with one of his ships, leaving the other in the command 
of Captain Thomas Hunt, who was instructed to carry his 
fish to Spain for a market. The choice of this man was 
unfortunate. Taking advantage of the absence of Smith, 
and governed by considerations of the most base and mer- 
cenary character, he decoyed twenty-four of the savages 
on board his vessel, and, in cruel return for the kindness 
with which the English had been treated by their people, 
he sold them into slavery at Malaga. The proceeds were 
a little private perquisite for himself. Smith ascribes to 
him a more subtle policy — namely, to discourage any set- 
tlement of the country by making the English name odious 
to the natives, " thereby to keepe this abounding country 
still in obscuritie, that onely he and some few merchants 
more might enjoy wholly the benefit of the trade." This 
object is not so apparent. The sufficient motive for the 
inhuman proceeding of such a MTetch is to be found in the 
petty profits of a trade upon which no return need be made 
to the owners. It was no atonement to the people he had 
wronofed that he was dismissed with indio-nation from em- 
ployment. 

Smith presented his map and the record of his proceed- 
ings to Prince Charles, afterwards the unfortunate Charles 
the First, whose sanction he entreated for the adoption of 
the new nomenclature which he proposed to employ for 



340 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

his discoveries. But, though Charles graciously com- 
plied with this request, he has not been successful always 
in the rejection of the former names. Cape Cod still stub- 
bornly keeps its sturdy epithet, and will not be persuaded 
into the adoption of the more gentle title of Cape "James." 
Cape Ann is too easy of utterance to be surrendered for 
Tragabigzanda, even though in tribute to the Turkish dam- 
sel who would have bestowed her charms on our hero. 
Even the name of Smith himself, conferred modestly on a 
little group of isles, it better pleased the English lip to 
convert into the insignificant title of the Isles of S-hoals. 
Surely, we might yield this little verbal tribute to him who 
was the first Admiral of New England. Numerous other 
names of places were changed by our explorer, who seems 
not to have affected the euphony of the Indian syllables. 
These, with very questionable taste, he repudiates for 
well-known English words. We cannot regret that the 
aboriginal words have been found of too sturdy a growth 
to be eradicated by the will of our adventurer. 

Smith, on his return to England, put into Plymouth. He 
esteems it his ill luck to have done so ; for, " imparting 
his purpose to divers whom he thought his friends," 
they engaged his services for the Plymouth Company, 
under a patent which had long lain dormant. They 
encouraged him with large promises, and thus secured his 
services which his late associates were quite unwilling to 
lose. His more recent engagement seems to have given 
offence to those, whose favoring and friendly opinion he 
was anxious to retain. But his faith was given, and he 
was not the man to seek escape, whatever might be his 
loss, from his engagement. 

The effect of this difficulty was to lead to the employ- 
ment of a master, named Michael Cooper, on the part of 
the South Virginia Company ; and Smith's own facts and 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH 341 

suggestions being seized upon, Cooper put to sea with 
four vessels, long before the Plymouth Company had 
made any provision for him. The success of his cod- 
fishery, under all its disadvantages, and the copious par- 
ticulars which the frank nature of our Captain prompted 
him but too freely to make public, thus led to the antici- 
pation of his own plans by others, who never would have 
conceived them. Fifteen hundred pounds had been real- 
ized by his first voyage of six months. By knowing the 
season for furs better than the English, the French, dur- 
ing the same period, had obtained twenty-five thousand 
beaver skins. These, with other facts, gathered from 
Smith's relation, together with his unwitting engagement 
with the Plymouth Company, had given unwonted provo- 
cation to their rivals, who had thus taken the start of 
them in the adventure, to the great detriment of the 
former. Yet all the advantages, except that of capital, 
were with the latter. Could the two companies have 
united, and sent forth a single expedition from Plymouth 
under our Captain, the results would have amply rewarded 
all parties. But commercial rivalry forbade the proper 
wisdom. " Much labor I had taken to brins^ the Lon- 
doners and them to joyne together, because the Londoners 
have most money and the western men are most proper 
for fishing ; and it is neere as much trouble, but much 
more danger, to saile from London to Plimouth, than from 
Plimouth to New England, so that halfe the voyage 
would thus be saved ; yet by no meanes could I prevaile, 
so desirous were they both to be lords of this fishing." 

Smith, on engaging with the Plymouth Company, had 
been promised four good ships, which were to be ready 
by Christmas. In January, with two hundred pounds 
cash, for private adventure, he left London, accompanied 
by six of his friends, and went to Plymouth. His san- 
29* 



342 LIFE OF CAPTAIIS SMITH. 

guine expectations were doomed to disappointment. The 
ships were not ready ; and the Company, owing to dis- 
couraging reports of disaster to other voyagers, had cooled 
in their desire for the enterprise. Yet, in behalf of this 
Company, Smith had declined the command of the London 
expedition — the four ships sent out under Cooper — which 
had been first tendered to him. Ordinary men would 
have desponded under these circumstances. Certainly, 
fortune warred spitefully against our hero. But he was 
not discouraged. His soul was alM^ays too much in his 
scheme to yield readily to denials or reverses. He went 
to work with his wonted energy in beating up supplies 
and recruits. His friends came forward, he invested all 
that he himself had, and succeeded in getting furnished 
one vessel of two hundred and another of fifty tons. Six- 
teen persons were engaged to go in this expedition, with 
the view to a permanent settlement of the country. This 
was a favorite scheme with our adventurer. He says in 
one of his narratives — " Nor will I spend more time in 
discovery or fishing till I may goe with a company for a 
plantation." He had the just notion of what was essential 
to the permanence of conquest. 

The two vessels were soon made ready for the sea, and 
left Plymouth in March. But the ill luck which had thus 
far baffled him, was not disposed to forego its hostility. 
He had sailed little more than a hundred leagues, when the 
two vessels were separated by a tempest — the ship of Smith 
was dismasted, and he was compelled to return to Plymouth 
under jurymast, the crew being kept at the pumps with 
every watch, with the dread of foundering momently be- 
fore their eyes. The vessel, probably old and worthless 
at the outset, and only patched up for the exigency, was 
not worthy of repairs, and we find our voyager resuming 
his adventure in a small bark of sixty tons, with but thirty 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 343 

men, instead of the seventy which he had in the former 
ship. He left Plymouth on the 24th of June. His con- 
sort, from whom he had separated, weathered the gale in 
safety, and, ignorant of the fate of the larger ship, pro- 
ceeded on her voyage, which was profitable in its results. 
But the evil eye was still upon our captain, and the adven- 
ture, so far as his progress was concerned, was one of mis- 
haps and disappointments. His first danger was from an 
English pirate, a bark of one hundred and forty tons, 
manned by eighty men, and armed with thirty-six cannon. 
The little vessel of Smith was of three score tons only, with 
thirty seamen and four guns. His master, mate, pilot and 
others were very importunate with him to yield, and he had 
more trouble in the contest with their fears than he expect- 
ed to have with the foe. He was stubborn in his resolution 
to fight it out with the pirates, and made his preparations 
accordingly. But, when the enemy drew nigh, and recog- 
nized our adventurer, they became pacific. Their leaders 
recognized him as their former captain. They proffered 
him the command of their vessel. They were willing that 
he should lead them at his pleasure. They were prepared 
to confide in him rather than in themselves. In fact, there 
was a mutiny among them. They had lately run from 
Tunis, lacked provisions, and were divided into contending 
factions. 

It was unfortunate that Smith refused their alliance. 
He afterwards repented that he had not accepted the com- 
mand which they proffered him. But he was discouraged 
by their mutinous condition, and had his heart too deeply 
set upon the leading object of his adventure, to trouble 
himself with the unnecessary task of reforming these pro- 
fligates. But his own crew proved even less tract- 
able. Near Fayal he was encountered by two other 
pirates. But these were Frenchmen. One of them was 



344 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

of two hundred and the other of thirty tons. Here again, 
his crew were terrified at the disparity of force, and posi- 
tively refused to go to the guns. But our captain was not 
to be disgraced in this manner. He had a process of coer- 
cion which they learned to fear more than the enemy, and 
he prepared to fire his magazine, and blow his bark in air, 
rather than yield while he had any powder left. This 
brought his mutineers back to their duty. They saw de- 
termination in his eye, and the approach of the pirate was 
welcomed with a cannonade. A running fight followed, 
in which the English succeeded in making their escape. 

But their temporary good fortune was about to leave 
them, Near Flores they were chased and overtaken by 
four French men-of-war, all well armed, and each of 
them superior to the little craft of our Captain. He was 
made to 20 aboard of the French admiral and show his 
papers. These proved him to be neither Spaniard nor 
pirate, against whom the French vessels were then cruis- 
ins:. But the laws of nations were but little insisted on in 
those days, where there was no adequate power to enforce 
them. Thouo-h Smith showed the broad seal of England 
to his commission, it was the policy of the Frenchman to 
believe him pirate, Spaniard, or what he pleased. They 
respected neither him nor his papers ; detained him a 
prisoner ; rifled his vessel ; manned her with Frenchmen ; 
and distributed the English as prisoners among their own 
ships. After several days' detention they capriciously 
restored his vessel to our adventurer, restored his men 
and provisions, and left him to pursue his voyage. This 
he resolved to do, much against the wishes of his crew ; 
but before he could separate from the French admiral, the 
latter sent his boat for him, requesting once more to see 
him. He obeyed the invitation, which was, in other 
words, a command ; and, while on board the admiral, a 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 345 

sail was espied, which sent all the ships forward in pur- 
suit — all but the English vessel. Here, his discontents 
availing themselves of Smith's absence, the confusion of 
the chase, and the approach of night, turned their prow 
for England ; leaving " our Captaine in his cap, bretches, 
and waistcoat, alone among the Frenchmen." Smith 
asserts that his detention among the French was inten- 
tional, and induced in some degree by the machinations 
of two of his own seamen, Edward Chambers, the master, 
and John Miller, the mate, who had been discontents 
from the beginning of the voyage. They represented 
that he would *' revenge himself upon the Banke^ or in 
Newfoundland^ upon all the French he should there en- 
counter." The mutineers reached Plymouth in safety, 
having divided Smith's personal property among them. 
A commission was instituted before the vice-admiral of 
England to investigate the proceedings, and the particulars 
thus given were derived from the statements, on oath, of 
six of the crew. Whether the mutineers were ever pun- 
ished for this proceeding does not appear. The proba- 
bilities are against it. " The greatest losse," says Smith, 
" being mine," " the sailers did easily excuse themselves 
to the merchants in England that still provided to follow 
the fishing : much difference there was betwixt the Lon- 
doners and Westerlings to ingrosse it, who now would 
adventure thousands, that when I first went would not 
adventure a groat." Indeed, so completely had our Cap- 
tain shown the way, that he might almost as justly claim 
to have founded New Eng-land as Viro;inia. 

Smith remained during the whole summer a prisoner on 
board the Frenchman. He soon discovered that his cap- 
tors were little better than pirates. They certainly sailed 
under a commission which conferred great privileges. 
They scrupled at no sort of game. Nothing came amiss 



346 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

that promised to compensate the trouble and the cost of 
capture ; and the cruise was one which promised to be 
profitable in a high degree. English ships were as fre- 
quently plundered as any other ; and our Captain was 
frequently pained to see wrongs done to his countrymen, 
such as he himself had suffered, which he had not the 
power to prevent. But the English ships were sometimes 
hard customers for our French admiral ; and Smith indulges 
in a tone of laudable exultation when he finds the courage of 
his tribe asserting itself, now and then, triumphant over the 
cunning and treachery of their enemies. The details of 
what he witnessed during his captivity will scarce con- 
cern us here. Our business is rather with himself. He 
was not idle during his captivity. Some time was spent 
by the French admiral in the neighborhood of the Azores. 
Here, ^' to keepe his perplexed thoughts from too much 
meditation of his miserable estate," he employed himself in 
writing a narrative of his voyages to New England, with an 
account of that country. His mind was never idle. His 
eye took in the details of a subject at a glance, and his 
thoughts compassed all its demands and necessities the 
moment after. Nor did our Frenchmen leave him unem- 
ployed. They were glad to use him whenever they fought 
with the Spaniards, and he seems to have been no ways 
unwilling to encounter the national enemy. But when 
the foe was English, then he was again made a prisoner. 
His readiness in these cases secured the favor of his cap- 
tors. The French captain promised to put him ashore at 
the Azores, but broke his promise, and it was not till the 
summer was over that he was permitted to approach the 
land. Reaching Rochelle, the fair promises of the cap- 
tain were forgotten, and Smith, instead of freedom and 
reward, was made a close prisoner, and charged with hav- 
ing burnt Port Royal in New France, in 1613 a deed that 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 347 

was done by Capt. Argall. The object of this accusation 
was to scare him into giving them a discharge before the 
Judge of Admiralty. 

Our hero was very much in their power. It was not 
easy to find justice for an Englishman in France, during 
the feeble foreign administration of any of the Stuart family. 
Besides, it was a time of great civil commotion among the 
French — " a time of combustion, the Prince of Condy with 
his army in the field, and every poor lord or man in 
authority, as little kings of themselves." 

Smith reasoned justly when he concluded that his 
chief hope must rest upon himself. He determined to 
escape, if possible. He watched his opportunities ac- 
cordingly, and, one dark night, at the close of a storm, 
which had driven the Frenchmen into close cover be- 
low, he let himself down into their boat, and with a half 
pike instead of an oar, he set himself adrift in the hope to 
reach a contiguous islet. But the current was against 
him, and carried him out to sea. Here, in a small boat, 
without even the proper implement by which to work his 
way, amidst gust, and rain, and darkness, for the space of 
twelve hours our fearless adventurer, struggling manfully 
all the while against his fate, looked momentarily to be 
hurried to the bottom. " But it pleased God that the wind 
should turn with the tide," and while " many ships were 
driven ashore and divers split," his boat was drifted upon 
a marshy islet, where he was picked up the next day by 
" certaine fowlers, neere drowned and halfe dead with 
water, cold and hunger." His escape had been a narrow 
one. In flying from captivity he had also flown from 
death. The ship of his captors had been driven ashore, 
and her captain drowned with half of his crew. 



CHAPTER III. 

Thus preserved by the special mercies of Providence, 
amidst so many disasters, and es'^en against his own expec- 
tations, Smith found the means for getting to Rochelle by 
pawning the boat which had borne him through his dan- 
gers. At this place he preferred his complaint to the 
Judge of Admiralty, against the Frenchman who had cap- 
tured him, and was listened to with patience and many 
promises. Here he first received tidings of the wreck of 
the vessel in which he had been detained, and the drown- 
ing of her commander. Some of the survivors whom he 
encountered he caused to be arrested, and their story, on 
examination, confirmed his own. These particulars, pro- 
perly put on record, he placed in the hands of the English 
ambassador, then at Bordeaux. But nothing seems to 
have come of his complaint. The foreign relations of the 
Government of Great Britain, under the feeble administra- 
tion of James, were not of a sort to command much res- 
pect among the natives of the continent. Smith says — 
" of the wracke of the rich prize, some three thousand six 
hundred crownes worth of goods came ashore and were 
saved, with the caraval, which I did my best to arrest ; 
the Judge promised I should have justice ; what will be 
the conclusion as yet I know not. But, under the colour 
to take Pirats and the West Indie men (because the Spa- 
niards will not suffer the French to trade in the West 
Indies), an}^ goods from thence, though they take them 
upon the coast of Spaine, are lawfull prize, or from any 
of his territories out of the limits of Europe : — and as they 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 349 

betraied me, though I had the broad seale, so did they rob 
and pillage twentie saile of English men more, besides 
them I knew not, of the same yeere." 

And there was no redress for the subject, whether from 
France or England. The feebleness of the latter invited 
the aggressions of the former. A Cromwell was the only 
necessary cure for these foreign evils, and his day was 
approaching. But he came too slowly for the help of 
Smith. Our adventurer would have been reduced to sad 
straits in France, wanting means, but that he met good 
friends. It was his good fortune to meet his " old friend, 
Master Crampton, that no less grieved at his losse," than 
willingly, to the extent of his resources, supplied his 
wants ; and " I must confesse," he adds, ^' I was more 
beholden to the Frenchmen that escaped drowning, to the 
lawyers of Bourdeaux," and to another whom we shall 
name hereafter, than to " all the rest of my countrymen I 
met in France." This other was of the gentler sex — a 
Madame Chanoyes, of Rochelle — who, he tells us," boun- 
tifully assisted" him. Smith was always fortunate in find- 
ing favor with the ladies. His person was good, his man- 
ners easy and dignified. His mind was essentially pure 
and elevated. His delicacy was distinguished. He had 
few or no vices ; and, stern in battle, rigid in rule, and 
uncompromising with his foes, he was yet in every sense 
of the word a gentleman. One of his eulogists, who signs 
himself " Your true friend, sometimes your souldier, Tho. 
Carlton, writes : 

" I never knew a warrior yet, but thee, 
From wine, tobacco, debts, dice, oaths, so free." 

The line sums up a great many of those vices, from one 

or other of which, soldiers of fortune are seldom free ; and 

when we regard the trials and vicissitudes, the necessities 
30 



350 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

and the frequent irresponsibility of his career, we must 
allow that, but for a native delicacy of character, Smith 
could scarcely have escaped contamination from one or 
other of the practices here enumerated, and which, vicious 
mostly in themselves, are but too much regarded as venial 
because of their common use. One of his poet-eulogists 
ascribes the favor of Madame Chanoyes to a far tenderer 
feeling than that of simple humanity : 

*' Tragabigzanda, Callamata's love, 
Deare Pocahontas, Madame Shanois too, 
Who did what love with modesty could doe." 

But this is probably an exaggeration of the versemonger. 
We have nothing in proof of the insinuation. Smith him- 
self affords no countenance to the suggestion, and in no 
instance suffers himself to speak of either of these ladies, 
but in terms of proper and respectful gratitude. 

" Leaving thus my businesse in France, I returned to 
Plimoth, to finde them that had thus buried me amongst 
the French, and not only buried me, but with so much 
infamy as such treacherous cowards could suggest to 
excuse their villanies." They pretended, in short, that 
he was about to convert his vessel into a man-of-war — in 
other words to become a pirate. " The chieftaines of this 
mutiny that I could finde, 1 laid by the heeles ; the rest, 
like themselves, confessed the truth. " Our narrative of the 
second voyage to New England, as far as they were con- 
cerned in the events, has been drawn from this confession. 
But Smith gaiiled nothing for his own, in bringing the mu- 
tineers to their deserts. The fisheries, to which he had 
opened the way, yielded vast profits to the adventurers. 
The fishers of Iceland and Newfoundland abandoned these 
places for those of the waters of New England. New 
England herself was laid open as a rich prize to other co- 
lonists, in consequence of Smith's discoveries and repre- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 351 

sentations. He alone pined with denial, while he beheld 
others grow prosperous and insolent in the wages of his 
adventure, and the spoils that should have rewarded his 
genius only. " Now, how I have, or could prevent these 
accidents, having no more meanes, I rest at your censures ; 
but to proceed to the matter, yet must I sigh and say, 
' How oft hath fortune in the world brought slavery free- 
dome, and turned all diversely.' " The disasters all hap- 
pened to him and not to the enterprises which he set on 
foot. Two lines, seemingly his own, are made to finish 
his desponding fancies with a well-known sarcasm : 

" Fortune makes provision 
For knaves, and fools, and men of base condition." 

Denied to seek adventures because of the sad and prolonged 
hostility of fortune, the indefatigable nature of Smith coun- 
selled him to put on record, and in proper circulation, his 
discoveries. He wrote a book called " New England's 
Trial." The trial was in fact his own. It embodied all 
that he had endured in his two voyages, all that he had 
seen and heard, his comments upon his facts, and a sprink- 
ling of his moral philosophies, drawn from his reading and 
his experience. Much of the matter of this volume was 
written while he was a captive with the Frenchman. 
Much of it appears scattered over his other writings. In 
the preparation of his pamphlets he was quite desultory, 
and frequently refers to, and sometimes repeats, the matter 
which we find in other places. The present work, 
which was published in 1616, was put forth in quarto form. 
It gives such sketches of New England as he formerly gave 
us of Virginia. It describes the shores, and seas, and 
islands, along the coast, the people of the country, their 
manners, customs and superstitions. It has its value to 
this day, and is the source of much of the information of 
succeeding historians. It was accompanied by a map of 



352 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

New England, and one edition of the work contained 
several maps, as well of that region as of Virginia. Colo- 
nization in New England was still the object upon which 
his desires were set. To effect this object he traversed 
England, distributing his book. Thousands of copies were 
given to chartered companies of London, in the hope that 
they might be persuaded to embrace his suggestions. But 
his time seems to have been thrown away, if not his know- 
ledge. None of it enured to his benefit. The opinion 
began to spread about that he was unlucky, and to be un- 
lucky is, unhappily, in the vulgar estimate, to be some- 
thing worse than vicious and unwise. No imputation, 
indeed, so certainly forfeits for its subject the sympathies 
of the selfish multitude. Smith answers this imputation 
of ill luck with a cheerful defiance. " Some fortune-tel- 
lers say I am unfortunate. Had they spent their time as 
I have done, they would rather believe in God than in 
their calculations." This is very nobly said. His own 
want of means — his poverty — was urged against him as the 
only fruit of all his adventures. But this he answers, still 
as nobly. These profitless adventures which have given 
him empire and conquest, and which have left him unsel- 
fish, have been to him " as children — they have been my 
wife, my hawks, my hounds, my cards, my dice, and in 
totall, my best content." He has exercised his own na- 
ture in his adventures — he has brought into play the best 
affections of his soul — his troubles have taught him a 
knowledge of his resources — his privations and poverty 
have not brought remorse, regret and repentance in their 
train. ^' I would yet begin againe with as small means as 
at first, not that I have any encouragement more than 
lamentable experience." Of the discoveries of those who 
have followed him, he says, coarsely but with natural ener- 
gy, " they are but pigs of my own sow." "Had men 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 353 

been as forward to adventure their purses, and perform the 
conditions they promised mee, as to crop the fruits of my 
labours, thousands ere this had been bettered by these de- 
signes." " They dare now adventure a ship, that, when 
I first went, would not adventure a groat." 

Still, though they glean from his suggestions, they 
cannot do them proper justice. He has learned to feel a 
manly confidence in his own genius, if not in his fortune. 
It is Smith, only, that can properly work out the schemes 
of Smith, to a happy consummation. " For I know my 
grounds, yet every one to whom I tell them, or that reads 
this book, cannot put them in practice." He is not illi- 
beral even to those who seek to pilfer from his plans. 
" Though they endeavor to worke me out of my own 
designes, I will not much envy their fortunes ; but I 
would be sorry their intruding ignorance should by their 
defailments bring these certainties to doubtfulnesse." The 
eagerness which he feels to continue his career of coloni- 
zation and discovery, qualified by the mournful results of 
his own struggle, hitherto, to impress his convictions 
upon others, declares itself in a highly bold and spirited 
figure, taken from the manege of the days of chivalry. 
'* Thus, betwixt the spur of desire and the bridle of rea- 
son, I am near ridden to death in a ring of despaire." His 
own demands, in the event of success, were moderate 
enough. He asks only to be rewarded out of the results 
of the adventure, according to his pains, quality, and con- 
dition. If he fails — " If I abuse you with my tongue, take 
my head for satisfaction." 

But he had survived his fortunes. He was a lingerer 

on the stage. Who keeps the guide when the way is 

once made clear ? Who needs a Columbus to place the 

egg upright when he has flattened the point already to their 

hands .'' The claims of justice are always urged imperti- 
30* 



354 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

nently when it is in the power of men to thrust them from 
sight with impunity ; and great men, having achieved the 
leading event in their lives, are not willingly believed in 
any longer, since they always require to be compensated 
for future services, with some regard to the value of the 
past. Smith urged his arguments and distributed his 
books in vain. His mission was at an end with regard to 
all new discovery. But he could still be of service ; and 
we find him called upon without scruple by those who 
never knew how to compensate him, when his experience 
and opinions might be esteemed of importance to the inte- 
rests which he had already acquired for them. We must 
once more turn our eyes upon the colony in Virginia. 



CHAPTER IV. 

While Smith was struggling with misfortune at home, the 
colony which he had founded in Virginia was rising into 
greater strength and consequence. Its military charac- 
teristics were, however, much more conspicuous than its 
social. It warred not only upon the Indians but upon the 
French and Dutch. Early in 1614, Sir Thomas Dale, the 
governor of the colony, sent Captain Argall with a force 
against certain settlements which the French had made 
in Acadia. These were broken up and the colonists dis- 
persed. They subsequently adapted themselves to the 
habits of the Indians, and were incorporated among the 
tribes. Hudson's Dutch settlement, now New York, was 
also made to acknowledge the King of England, and to 
pay a tribute to the Governor of Virginia ; and, waxing inso- 
lent with success, and with the gradual increase of power, 
another demand was made upon Powhatan. Sir Thomas 
Dale thought it advisable to insist upon other pledges 
besides Pocahontas, but of a like description. Powhatan 
had another and a younger daughter. She had become 
her father's favorite, who now yielded her that place in 
his affections which had formerly been solely occupied by 
the former. The attachment of Pocahontas for the Eng- 
lish, her marriage with an Englishman, and her entire 
withdrawal from his sight, had served, in a great degree, tc 
wean from her his regards, and, accordingly, to lessen that 
influence upon his mind which she had formerly possess- 
ed, and which was of so much importance to the colonists. 
It will scarcely be believed, that the selfishness of the 



356 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

colony was of such a nature as to make its government 
heedless or blind to the cruelty of the requisition which 
it made upon the aged Emperor, for the other child of 
his affections. Mr. Ralph Hamer was sent upon this 
mission, and the details of his interview with Powhatan 
have been preserved to us. Hamer was accompanied by 
Thomas Savage, the interpreter, a youth who had been 
given by Newport to the king. Powhatan recognized the 
boy, w^hom he had restored some years before to the Eng- 
lish. " You were my boy," he said, " and I gave you 
leave, four years ago, to visit your friends ; but I have 
never seen ror heard of you, nor of my own man, Namon- 
tack, since ; though many ships have gone and returned." 
Then, turning to Hamer, he demanded the chain of pearl 
— the string of wampum — which, when a treaty of peace 
had been made with the English, at the time of his daugh- 
ter's marriage, he had sent to Sir Thomas Dale. That 
string of pearl was to be a token between them ; and in 
proof that the messenger came from the English, when- 
ever Dale should send to him hereafter. Failing in this, 
Powhatan was to take and bind the alleged messenger, and 
send him back to Dale as a deserter. Hamer had not 
provided himself with this chain. The requisitions of 
the Indians were apt to be treated heedlessly. Powhatan 
looked doubtfully upon his visitor, but Hamer found some 
ingenious reason for showing that the stipulation could not 
relate to him, and Powhatan admitted the exception. He 
inquired after Pocahontas, and his unknown son, and was 
pleased to hear of their prosperity. When told that his 
daughter was so well satisfied with her new condition that 
she would not, upon any account, return to live with him, 
he laughed heartily, as if his old affections were rejoiced 
at the happiness of his child. 

But when Hamer came to declare his business — to show 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 357 

the cruel purpose upon which he came — the face of the 
old chief grew troubled. His countenance fell and darken- 
ed. Of course, the application was made in a form of as 
much mildness as was consistent with the rapacious harsh- 
ness of the demand. ^' His brother, Dale, had heard of the 
fame of his youngest daughter, intended to marry her to 
some worthy English gentleman, which would be highly 
pleasing and agreeable to her sister, who was very desir- 
ous to see and have her near her ; and, as a testimony of 
his love," the father was desired to send, her also to 
the English. 

Powhatan, conscious of the power of the colonists, and 
unwilling to offend them, endeavored to evade the demand. 
" He had parted with his daughter — he had already given 
her in marriage to a chief — had sold her to him, and re- 
ceived his pay." When pressed and driven from these 
objections, he at length declared himself frankly with the 
feeling of a father and the dignity of a prince. He desired 
Hamer to urge him no more upon the subject, but to 
return to his brother Dale this answer : 

" That he held it not a brotherly part to endeavor to 
bereave him of his two darling children at once : That, 
for his part, he desired no farther assurance of Dale's 
friendship than his promise : That, of his own, the English 
had a sufficient pledge in one of his daughters ; which, as 
long as she lived, would be sufficient ; and should she die, 
then he should have another. Tell him further," said he, 
" that even were there no pledge, there need be no dis- 
trust of me or my people. We have had enough of war. 
Too many already have been slain on both sides. With 
my will there vshall be no more. I have the power here, 
and I have given the law to my people. J am now grown 
old. I would end my days in peace and quietness. My 
country is large enough for both, and even though you 



358 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

give me cause of quarrel, I will rather go from you than 
fight with you. Take this answer to my brother." 

And the agent in this unworthy mission received no 
other. He returned to his principal as he went. How 
far Pocahontas may have been privy to the application is 
not said. Her name is not otherwise mentioned in the 
transaction than as it appears in Hamer's report of the 
message which Dale had sent to Powhatan. It is scarcely 
possible that she willingly gave her consent to a scheme 
for depriving her aged sire of the only thing which he had 
chosen to comfort him after her desertion. 

Pocahontas seems really to have been fully satisfied, as 
Hamer reported to her father, with her English associations 
and condition. She had been baptized, and had received 
the Christian name of Rebecca. It was only after this 
event that the colonists discovered that her real name was 
Matoaka or Matoax, and that the name of Pocahontas was 
one only assumed when she was spoken of to English ears. 
A superstition, which prevailed among the Indians, led 
them to fear that, with a knowledge of her true name, it 
was in the power of the Christians to do her hurt. The 
superstition of the evil mouth, as well as the evil eye, was 
quite as common among our aborigines as it has ever been 
among the various people of the East. Her adoption of 
Christianity seems to have been fervent and sincere. She 
is described as of quick intelligence, in learning equally 
the faith and language of her husband ; and her career from 
childhood amply declares the aversion which she felt for 
the M'ild exercises and coarse brutalities of her own people. 
She was with them, but not of them — a creature, as 
foreign to the sort of world in which she is found, as was 
that exquis-ite creation of Goethe — the Mignon of the Wil- 
helm Meister. Her whole nature was gentleness — there 
was in her a spiritual craving, which alone seems to have 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 359 

indicated the necessity for the advent, among her tribes, 
of a superior divinity. The heart which has expelled all 
other idols, will never be left unoccupied by the true 
God. 

In the spring of 1616, Sir Thomas Dale embarked for 
England, taking with him Pocahontas and her husband, 
and several young Indians of both sexes. He enjoyed the 
triumph which should have belonged to Smith. Pow- 
hatan did not see his daughter when she left the country. 
He never saw her again. The old chief was at this time 
suffering, not only from the pressure of years, but from 
the dread of foes at home. He had reason to dread the 
machinations of Opechancanough — a chief every way to 
be feared ; a favorite with the people ; a man of great 
courage and ability. He aimed at the succession, and 
finally achieved it. Opitchapan (who is sometimes called 
Itopatin), the favorite brother of Powhatan, was lame and 
feeble ; and, the latter once removed, could oppose no 
serious obstacle to the bolder and abler genius of Opechan- 
canough. We shall return to this history again. It is 
enough here to say, that the reason given for the failure of 
Powhatan to see his daughter before her final departure, 
was the necessity which he felt of watching or avoiding 
the machinations of the former ; who was suspected of a 
plan to deliver him hand and foot into the hands of the 
English. 

Pocahontas arrived in England on the 12th of June. 
Her fame had long since preceded her, and made her an 
object of consideration. Respect and curiosity equally 
brought her the attentions of the great. She was visited 
by persons of rank and character, whose hospitality spared 
no pains to make her satisfied with the strange country in 
which she found herself. 

Smith was preparing at this time for a third voyage 



360 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

to New England. His sanguine temperament seems tc. 
have persuaded him, against the fact, that he was in a fair 
way of obtaining the command of a new expedition. 
With his heart exulting in new hopes of a favorite charac- 
ter, he was yet not unmindful of his Virginia nonpareil. 
As soon as he heard of her arrival in England, he penned 
the followino; letter " To the most high and virtuous 
Princess, Queen Anne of Great Britain : 

" Most admired Queen, 

" The love I beare my God, my King and countrie, hath 
so oft emboldened mee in the worst of extreme dangers, 
that now honestie doth constraine mee presume thus farre 
beyond myselfe to present your majestic this short dis- 
course : if ingratitude be a deadly poyson to all honest 
vertues, I must bee guiltie of that crime if I should omit 
any meanes to be thankful. 

^' So it is, that some ten years agoe, being in Virginia 
and taken prisoner by the power of Powhatan, their chief 
king, I received from this great salvage exceeding great 
courtesies, especially from his son Nantaquuas, the most 
manliest, comeliest, boldest spirit I ever saw in a salvage, 
and his sister Pocahontas, the king's most deare and well 
beloved daughter, being but a childe of twelve or thirteen 
yeeres of age,* whose compassionate, pitifull heart, of 
desperate estate, gave me much cause to respect her : I 
being the first Christian this proud king and his grim 



* "We have seen in the " True Relation," written at the time, that 
he describes her as a child of ten years old — a statement more likely 
to be correct than the present, as his impressions were necessarily 
more fresh and vivid : he speaks of her only as of a child, sweet and 
wonderful, but still a child. Had she been marriageable then, she 
would have found an English husband — nay, in all probabilitj'-, as 
soon as she was marriageable, the idea, never before entertained, was 
suggested of taking her prisoner. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 361 

attendants ever saw : and thus inthralled in their barbarous 
power, I cannot say I felt the least occasion of want that 
was in the power of those, my mortal foes, to prevent, 
notwithstanding all their threats. After some six weeks 
fatting amongst those savage courtiers, at the minute of 
my execution, she hazarded the beating out of her own 
braines to save mine ; and not onely that, but so prevailed 
with her father, that I was safely conducted to James- 
towne, where I found about eight and thirtie miserable, 
poore and sicke creatures, to keepe possession of all those 
large territories of Virginia : such was the weaknesse of 
this poor commonwealth, as, had the savages not fed us, 
we directly had starved. 

"And this reliefe, most gracious Queene, was commonly 
brought us by this Lady Pocahontas; notwithstanding all 
these passages when inconstant fortune turned our peace 
to warre, this tender virgin would still not spare to dare 
to visit us, and by her own faires have been oft appeased, 
and our wants still supplyed ; were it the policie of her 
father thus to imploy her, or the ordinance of God thus 
to make her his instrument, or her extraordinarie affection 
to our nation, I know not : but of this I am sure, — when 
her father, with the utmost of his policie and power, 
sought to surprise me, having but eighteen with me, the 
dark night could not affright her from comming through 
the irkesome woods, and with watered eyes gave me 
intelligence, with her best advice to escape his furie : 
which, had he knowne, he had surely slaine her. James- 
towne, with her wilde traine, she as freely frequented as 
her father's habitation ; and during the time of two or 
three yeares, she, next under God, was still the instrument 
to preserve this colonic from death, famine and utter con- 
fusion ; which, if in those times had once become dissolv- 
ed, Virginia might have line (lain) as it was at our first 
31 



362 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

arrivall to this day. Since then, this business having 
beene turned and varied by many accidents from that I 
left it at : it is most certaine, after a long and troublesome 
"warre after my departure, betwixt her father and our 
colonie, all v^^hich time she vv^as not heard of, about two 
years after she herselfe was taken prisoner, being so de- 
tained neere two years longer, the colonie by that meanes 
was relieved, peace concluded, and at last, rejecting her 
barbarous condition, was married to an English gentleman, 
with whom at this present she is in England ; the first 
Christian ever of that nation, the first Virginian ever 
spake English, or had a childe in marriage by an English- 
man ; — a matter, surely, if my meaning bee truly consider- 
ed and well understood, worthy a Prince's understanding. 
" Thus, most gracious lady, I have related to your Ma- 
jestie, what at your best leasure our approved histories 
will account you at large, and done in the time of your 
Majestie's life, and however this might bee presented you 
from a more worthy pen, it cannot from a more honest 
heart. As yet I never begged anything of the state, or of 
any, and it is my want of abilitie and her exceeding desert, 
your birth, meanes and authoritie, her birth, virtue, want 
and simplicitie, doth make mee thus bold, humbly to be- 
seeche your Majestie to take this knowledge of her, though 
it be from one so unworthy to be the reporter as myselfe, 
her husband's estate not being able to make her fit to 
attend your majestie : the most and least I can doe, is to 
tell you this, because none so oft has tried it as myselfe ; 
and the rather, being of so great a spirit, however her sta- 
ture, if it should not bee well received, seeing this king- 
dome may rightly have a kingdome by her meanes — hei 
present love to us and Christianitie might turn to such 
scorn and furie as to direct all this good to the worst of evil 
— where finding so great a Queene should doe her some 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 363 

honour more than she can imagine, for being so kind to 
your servants and subjects, would so ravish her with con- 
tent, as endeare her dearest blood to effect that your Ma- 
jestie and all the king's honest subjects most earnestly de- 
sire. And so I humbly kisse your gracious hands." 

This letter, earnest as it is, is not written with the usual 
eloquence and ease of our adventurer. Big with his sub- 
ject, and writing to a Queen, he seems to have been strug- 
gling with his own conceptions, and to have been over- 
come by them. His thoughts are clumsily uttered, and 
never came to their full proportion in delivery. But he 
evidently wrote from his feelings, and may be believed 
when he asserts that, though his statement might be pre- 
sented from " a more worthy pen," it could not come 
'* from a more honest heart," We are not told whether 
it was to this address that Pocahontas was indebted for 
those attentions which the Queen of England, as well as 
her consort, bestowed upon her. She was kindly and 
honorably entertained at court, though the tradition is 
that her husband Rolfe was frowned upon for his pre- 
sumption in intermarrying with royal blood. The Scottish 
Solomon, whose tenacious sense of legitimacy was prob- 
ably the one principle to which he more religiously adhered 
than to any other, is said to have held the proceeding as 
little less than treason or misdemeanor. It is fortunate that 
John Rolfe's ears did not pay the penalty of his ambition. 

Smith did not content himself with simply writing to 
the queen in behalf of the Lady Rebecca, for such was 
the name she bore in England. Though earnestly en- 
gaged in his preparations for the voyage to New England, 
he hurried with several of his friends to see her at Brent- 
ford, whither she had been removed from London. At 
this time Smith was probably at Plymouth. We have 
the account of the interview from himself. It was 



364 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

highly touching, but unsatisfactory. His salutation was 
probably reserved and cautious, and she was in a strange 
land. She expected the warmest signs of attachment 
from one whom she had regarded with the devotion of a 
child ; and he was governed by those fears of offending the 
suspicious pedant who sat upon the throne of England, of 
whose opinion, in this very instance, our captain was 
probably aware. The untutored damsel of the Virginian 
forests could not understand his reserve, though the real 
motive of his caution was that she might not prejudice 
her claims to the patronage of the crown. She felt his 
coldness, but not his policy. She cared nothing, perhaps, 
for any countenance but his. " After a modest salutation," 
such is Smith's statement, " without any word she turned 
about, obscured her face, as not seeming well contented." 
How much spirit was in that silence ! What feelings 
were stirring in that untutored but noble bosom, which 
could thus move her to shroud and turn away her face ! 
She had calculated largely, no doubt, upon this meeting 
with the great warrior of the pale-faces, who had first im- 
pressed her with the greatness of his people. And to be 
encountered thus, as if he had never been plucked from 
death by her embrace — as if she had never wandered 
through the midnight woods to save him — as if she had 
not brought him food when he hungered, and taught her 
maidens to dance about him in strange forest movements, 
the better to beguile his weariness. In her secret heart 
she reproached him with want of gratitude — at the very 
moment when he acknowledged no other feeling. 

Smith had told his friends that she spoke the English, 
and now regretted having done so, for she refused to speak. 
In this mood they left her for some hours ; when they 
rejoined her, a more indulgent spirit informed her thoughts. 
She now spoke, and spoke freely. They spoke together 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 365 

of the past, and she thus reminded him of her former love 
to the English, and what she had done for them. 

" You did promise Powhatan," said she, " that what 
was yours should be his, and he made a like promise unto 
you. You, being in his land a stranger, called him father, 
and by the same right I will call you so." 

Smith would have objected to this " because she was a 
king's daughter," and having a fear of King James in 
his eyes ; but, " with a well-set countenance she said, 
* Were you not afraid to come into my father's country, 
and cause fear in him and all his people but myself, and 
do you fear that I should call you father here ? I tell you 
that I will call you father, and you shall call me child, 
and so shall it be for ever. They did always tell us that 
you were dead, and I knew not otherwise until I came to 
Plymouth. Yet Powhatan believed it not, because your 
countrymen will lie much, and he commanded Uttomato- 
makkin* to seek you out and know the truth.' " 

* " This salvage, one of Powhatan's counsel!, being amongst them 
held an understanding fellow, the king purposely sent him, as they 
say, to number the people here, and informe him well what wee were 
and our state. Arriving at Plymouth, according to his directions he 
got a long sticke, whereon by notches hee did think to have kept the 
number of all the men hee could see, but he was quickly wearied of 
this task."(a) — SmiWs Narrative. 

This cunning savage denied to Smith that he had seen the king 
(James), though it was known that he had. He argued that, as the 
king had given him nothing, it could not be a king he had seen. 
«' You gave a white dog to Powhatan," said he to Smith, " yet to me, 
that am better than a white dog, your king has given nothing." 

This shrewd savage is sometimes called Tomoccomo, and some- 
times Uttomaccomach. His accounts of England were unfriendly, 
and he was disgraced on his return to Virginia. 

(a.) When he returned to Virginia, and was asked the number of 
the people, he answered, "Count the stars in the sky, the leaves of ihe 
forest, and the sands of the seashore — such is the number of the peo- 
ple of England."— S^i/vi. 
31* 



366 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

Smith frequently visited her, and enjoyed, with a not 
unbecoming satisfaction, the astonishment of those " divers 
courtiers and others, my acquaintances," whom she de- 
lighted by her natural gifts, and the happy manner in 
which she received them. " They did thinke God had a 
great hand in her conversion, and they have scene many 
EngHsh ladies worse favored, proportioned and beha- 
viored." 

But the career of the Indian princess was short in Eng- 
land. She sickened and died at Gravesend, early in 1617, 
as she was preparing to return to Virginia. The event 
was unexpected, but it did not find her unprepared. She 
presented to the sorrowing spectators the sweetest exam- 
ple of Christian resignation and fortitude. She left one 
son, Thomas Rolfe, who was educated by his uncle, Henry 
Rolfe, in England, and who afterwards became a person 
of distinction and fortune in Virginia. From an only 
daughter, whom he left,* some of the first families of Vir- 
ginia trace their descent, with a just and honorable pride. 
Among these we may mention a recent and distinguished 
instance, in the person of John Randolph of Roanoke. 



* He left, behind him an only daughter, who was married to Col. 
Robert Boiling, by whom she left an only son, the late Major John 
Boiling, who was father to the present Col, John Boiling and several 
daughters, married to Col. Richard Randolph, Col. John Fleming, 
Dr. William Guy, Mr. Thomas Eldridge and Mr. James Murray. 
So that the remnant of the imperial family of Virginia, which long 
ran in a single person, is now increased, and branched out into a very 
numerous progeny. — Stith, 146. 



CHAPTER V. 

To attempt any analysis of the character of Pocahontas— 
to offer any eulogy upon her virtues, so equally delicate 
and decided as they were, would only result in unneces- 
sary declamation. As there is nothing to question in the 
propriety of her conduct, so there is nothing which needs 
defence ; as there can be no doubt of the extraordinaiy 
courage which she brought to the support of a benign 
humanity, equally extraordinary, so nothing is necessary 
to the full comprehension of her virtues beyond the actual 
facts in her history. As these virtues were not of the 
time or the people among whom she was born and nur- 
tured, so they denote a degree of excellence which lifts 
her beyond her race and period, and links her name and 
reputation with those of the few noble spirits, like herself, 
of whom the universal heart everywhere keeps a tena- 
cious memory. A more incomparable creature never did 
honor to her sex. A more feminine spirit never was sent 
to earth for the purposes of humanity. 

Powhatan did not long survive his daughter. He lived 
long enough to lament her. He died in April, 1618, and 
was succeeded by Itopatin. For a time Opechancanough 
seems to have submitted to his sway ; and a hollow am- 
nesty lulled the colonists of Virginia into full confidence 
in their treacherous neighbors. They were warned of 
this impolicy, but treated the warning with contempt — the 
population of the colony increasing annually, and the ad- 
venturers scattering themselves, with few precautions, 
throughout the forests. But the complete government of 



368 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

the Indians was passing into the hands of Opechancanough. 
Itopatin was a mere puppet at his will. The former was the 
leading spirit of his people ; bold, subtle, highly popular, 
enterprising, and possessed of vast powers of dissimulation. 
With the gradual acquisition of sway over the popular 
mind, he prepared for the full assertion of his authority. To 
supersede Itopatin and to extirpate the English, were his 
favorite objects, and his schemes rapidly ripened for their 
gratification. The year 1622 was rendered memorable in 
Virginia by the massacre of nearly four hundred of the 
thoughtless and unsuspicious settlers. So well was the 
plan of the Indians laid, and so general was the combina- 
tion, that, at the appointed hour, the several assailing par- 
ties, however remote from one another, were each of them 
at the appointed places in which the separate tasks of 
slaughter were to be done. That the massacre was not 
complete, was not the fault of the Indians, nor because of 
the vigilance of the English. Their good fortune saved 
them from utter extermination. 

This terrible event threw the whole country into con- 
sternation, and inflicted a most serious blow upon the suc- 
cess of the colony. The excitement was great in England, 
and our Captain was remembered as one whose experience 
might be drawn upon with profit to find some remedy for 
so grievous a disaster. He offered, with a hundred and 
thirty men, to render the colony perfectly safe against all 
the power of the tribes. His scheme was one which has 
been largely adopted in the settlement of our borders in 
after times. It was to employ bands of Rangers, by whom 
the frontiers were to be continually traversed. " These I 
would imploy onely in ranging the countries and torment- 
ing the savages, and that they should be as a running 
army, till this were effected, and then settle themselves in 
some such convenient place, that should ever remain a 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 369 

garrison of that strength, ready upon any occasion against 
the savages, or any other, for the defence of the country." 
Smith was at some pains to urge this, and some other 
schemes, for the restoration and safety of the colony, upon 
the proprietors. He was deeply affected by the fate of 
the settlement. His affections yearned towards it, and he 
was prepared to forget and surrender his old grudges upon 
the altar of patriotism. He frankly proposed to take 
charge of such a command as that which he counselled, 
and his opinions were given at considerable detail, involv- 
ing suggestions of operations by the water courses of the 
country as well as among the forests. For these services 
he asked nothing but what he could gather from the 
country itself But he addressed ears which were shut 
by cupidity. The council was divided in opinion. Some 
favored his project, others were opposed to it ; but all 
consented that he should be permitted to save their colony 
at his expense and risk, while they were not unwilling to 
share with him the pillage of the savages, whatever that 
might be. We need hardly say that their liberality failed 
to satisfy one who had so largely suffered already by their 
avarice. He quietly rejected their offer, and yielded the 
hope, for a moment entertained, of once more triumphing 
in Virginia. " They supposed," says he, " that I spake 
only for my own ends !" In truth, it is the most difficult 
thing for the mere worldling to comprehend the generous 
nature which lies at the bottom, the vital principle, of an 
enterprising genius. " It were good," he adds, " if they 
themselves were sent thither to make trial of their pro- 
found wisdomes." " I would not give twenty pound for 
all the pillage that is to be got among the salvages in 
twenty years." 

The distresses of the colony, and its great expense to 
the proprietors, finally led to its disparagement. Estimat- 



370 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

ed by its burdens only, it began to be undervalued. 
Smith answered the aspersions upon the colony " in a 
brief relation, written to his majesty's commission." He 
describes the face of the country, its resources, its impor- 
tance to the crown — the feebleness of the savages if pro- 
perly managed — and the true causes of all the distresses 
under which the colony labored ; — all of which he insists 
could have been avoided had his advice been taken. At 
the close of this relation he tells us that he spent five 
years, and more than five *hundred pounds, " in procuring 
the letters patent and setting forward, and neere as much 
more about New England ;" — that " these nineteen 
yeeres I have, here and there, not spared any thing accord- 
ing to my abilitie, nor the best advice I could, to persuade 
how those strange miracles of misery could have been 
prevented, which lamentable experience plainly taught me 
of necessitie must ensue ; but few would beleeve me, till 
now too dearly they have paid for it. Wherefore, hither- 
to, I have rather left all than undertake impossibilities, or 
any more such costly tasks at such chargeable rates : 
for in neither of these two countries have I one foot of landy 
nor the very house I buildedj nor the ground I digged with 
my own hands, nor any content or satisfaction at all ; and 
though I see ordinarily those two countries shared before me 
hy them that neither have them nor knowes them, but by my des- 
criptions : yet that doth not so much trouble mee as to heare 
and see those contentions and divisions which will hazard if 
not ruine the prosperitie of Virginia, if present remedy be not 
found, as they have kindred many hundreds who would have 
been there ere now. ^^ ' 

The unselfish nature of Smith's, here expressed, 
could not be denied, with such proofs of his privations 
and his present readiness still to adventure, even with no 
better encouragement before him. A commission had 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 371 

oeen issued by King James, addressed to certain great per- 
sons, to examine into the condition of the colony, report 
the transactions of the company, and devise a scheme for 
the remedying of evils and abuses. This commission ne- 
cessarily had resort to Smith. They propounded to him 
numerous questions, to all of which he ansvsrered with his 
usual sagacity. He was better master of his subject than 
any other of his successors, knew the country and the In- 
dians more thoroughly, and, indeed, the pathways they 
had subsequently opened, had been only where he had 
previously made the blaze. To the question, why the 
colony, left by him in a good state of forwardness, had not 
better prospered ; he answered, that " Idleness and care- 
lessness had brought to nothing in six months, what he 
had taken three years to do." When asked, " Why the 
country, if good, should produce nothing but tobacco ;" 
he answered, " that the frequent change of governors 
makes every man anxious to make the most of his time." 
As to the cause of the massacres and the use of the Eng- 
lish weapons by the Indians, he ascribes it to the want of 
martial discipline on the part of the English, and their em- 
ployment of the savages as fowlers and huntsmen ; twenty 
thousand pounds outfit, he thinks, would have put the 
colony above hazard, if rightly employed ; and a good sup- 
ply of laborers along with the soldiers, at a further cost of 
five thousand pounds, well managed, would remedy the 
present disasters. The defects of the government he 
ascribes to the multitude of councillors, the ntimber and 
expense of unnecessary officers, the delay of action, and 
the waste of time in ceremonials and formalities — 
" the orations, disputations, excuses, hopes" — the " ex- 
tortion, covetousness and oppression in a few" — 
and the waste upon governors, deputies, treasurers, 
marshals, and other unnecessary officers, of the money 



372 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

which should be appropriated only to the necessities of the 
community. " Thus they spend Michaelmas rent in Mid- 
summer moon, and would gather their harvest before they 
have planted their corne." Smith concludes with a hint, 
of which James appears to have availed himself ; namely, 
that the government of the colony might, with as much 
propriety, be taken into his own hands, as left in those by 
which it was at present administered. In 1624, the Vir- 
ginia company was dissolved accordingly, its powers 
absorbed in those of the crown, and a special commission 
was issued for the appointment of a governor and twelve 
councillors, who were to have the whole management of 
the colony. 

But, in all these changes, our captain remained without 
employment. We have seen him hurrying his interview 
with Pocahontas, in order that he might revisit New Eng- 
land. But the adventure failed. He never proceeded on 
this voyage, but lived in a vain struggle with the capital- 
ists, fed for a long time upon hopes, that never yielded 
any better food. Twenty ships were promised him, and a 
promise so magnificent was well calculated to dazzle the 
imagination of one with a faith so sanguine, and a passion 
for enterprise so deeply entertained and eager. But with 
his soul ever in America, his body remained in England. 
If he could not go forth himself, he encouraged all who 
could do so ; and, working to the last in the favorite object 
of his heart, he seems to have continued to write and to 
publish until the latest moment of his life. We have 
already mentioned several of his writings. In 1620, he 
published a pamphlet, entitled " New England's Trials, 
declaring the success of twenty-six ships, employed thither 
within these six yeares." A second edition of this work, 
with the title somewhat altered, was published two years 
after. In 1626, he sent forth his '' General Historic of 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 373 

Virginia, New England and the Summer Isles, with the 
ijames of the Adventurers, Planters and Governors, from 
their first beginning. An. 1584, to the present, 1626, &c." 
To this work, of which we have already spoken, we have 
been largely indebted in the progress of our biography. 
In 1630, he published " The true Travels, Adventures 
and Observations of Captain John Smith in Europe, Asia, 
AfFrica and America, from 1593 to 1629 ; together with 
a continuation of his general Historie of Virginia, Summer 
Isles, New England, and their proceedings since 1624 to 
the present, 1629 ; as also of the new Plantations of the 
great river of the Amazons, the Isles of St. Christopher, 
Mevis and Barbadoes in the West Indies." In 1631, he 
put forth his " Advertisements for the unexperienced 
Planters of New England or anywhere, or the Pathway to 
Experience, to erect Plantations," &c. The volume is a 
medley, containing many clever things, sometimes marked 
by an epigram, at others by a passage or paragraph of 
force, almost amounting to eloquence, and full, in corres- 
pondence with his title, of his various experiences. He was 
also the writer of a sea grammar, which was highly prais- 
ed by nautical men of his day, and which was republish- 
ed several times after his death. Of several of these writings 
we have American editions. He was engaged upon a 
work, called " The History of the Sea," when surprised by 
death in 1631. This production seems not to have been fin- 
ished, and the fragment has not survived to our day. Smith 
died at London in the fifty-second year of his age. He pro- 
bably died in obscurity, for none of the facts attending his 
demise remain to us. He had survived his uses, at least 
in the estimation of his patrons and the public. That they 
erred in this judgment will not be held a matter of doubt 
by those who have witnessed the proofs, here accumulated, 
of his good sense, far-reaching sagacity, and great mental 



374 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 

activity to the last. Our summary of his career and cha- 
racter has already been made. That a more fiery spirit, 
more admirably tempered by prudence for the most trying 
adventure, never lived, will be admitted by all to whom 
this history becomes familiar. That he shared the fate 
of merit, to be neglected after the completion of his tasks, 
will not lessen the value of his performance in the regards 
of posterity. 

Opechancanough, one of the great Virginia opponents 
of our Captain, survived him for several years, and main- 
tained the same consistent hostility to the whites that he 
had shown at the beginning. In 1639 he contrived ano- 
ther outbreak of the Indians, to which more than five 
hundred of the colonists fell victims. His name became 
more dreaded than that of Powhatan. His resources 
were greater, and he was fully equal to him in dignity and 
nobleness of character. His skill in the government of 
his people at once secured their reverence and affection. 
He subjected the tribes around him far and near, and 
extended greatly the domain of his predecessor. But his 
faculties failed with age. He had become so decrepit 
that he was no longer able to walk alone, and was carried 
about in the arms of his people. His flesh was emaciated, 
the sinews so relaxed, and his eyelids so heavy, that 
whenever he desired to see, they were lifted by his attend- 
ants. In this condition he was surprised by Sir William 
Berkeley, the then Governor of Virginia. Thus feeble, and 
in bonds, the proud spirit of the savage king, and his strong 
intellect, never failed him. Exposed to the rude stare of 
the multitude, as a public show, he had his eyelids raised 
on the approach of Berkeley, and fixing his glance sternly 
upon him, read him a lesson which, if the English gover- 
nor possessed any remains of noble sentiment, must have 
made him wince. " Had Sir William Berkeley fallen my 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. 375 

prisoner," said he, " I should not thus meanly have ex- 
posed him as a show to my people." 

Berkeley designed to send him to England, as a royal 
captive, gracing his government in the eyes of his sove- 
reign ; but one of his soldiers, with a scarcely greater 
degree of cruelty, defeated this purpose by shooting the 
aged monarch through the back. Thus perished, the 
victim of a base assassin, one of the bravest and most 
sagacious of all the forest monarchs of America. 



THE END. 



APPENDIX. 



[PAGE 58.] 

SMITH'S PATENT OF NOBILITY, 

WITH THE CERTIFICATE OF THE ENGLISH GARTER-KING- AT- ARMS, 

SiGisMVNDVs Bathori, Dei gratia Dux Transilvanice, Walla" 
chice, if Vandalorum; Comes Anchardt Salford ; Growenda; 
CuFxCtis his literis significamus qui eas lecturi aut audituri sunt, 
concessam licentiam aut facultatem lohanni Smith, natione 
Anglo Generoso, 250. militum Capitaneo sub Illustrissimi & 
Gravissimi Henrici Volda, Comitis de Meldri, Salmaria 4" PeldoicR 
primario, ex 1000. equitibus & 1500. peditibus bello Vngarico 
conductione in Provincias supra scriptas sub Authoritate nostra : 
cui servituti omni laude, perpetuaq. memoria dignum praebuit 
sese erga nos, ut virum strenuum pugnantem pro aris & focis 
decet. Quare favore nostro militario ipsum ordine condonavi- 
mus, & in Sigillum illius tria Turcica Capita designare & depri- 
mere concessimus, quae ipso gladio suo ad V^rbem Regalem in 
singulari prselio vicit, mactavit, atq ; decollavit in Transilvania 
Provincia : Sed fortuna cum variabilis ancepsq ; sit idem forte 
fortuito in PFa//acAm Provincia Anno Domini 1602. die Mensis 
Novembris 18. cum multis aliis etiam Nobilibus & aliis quibus- 
dam militibus captus est a Domino Bascha electo ex Camhia 
regionis Tartaric, cujus severitate adductus salutem quantam 
potuit quaesivit, tantumque effecit, Deo omnipotente adjuvante, 
ut deliberavit se, & ad suos Commilitones revertit ; ex quibus 
ipsum liberavimus, & haec nobis testimonia habuit ut majori 
licentia frueretur qua dignus esset, jam tendet in patriam suam 
dulcissimam : Rogamus ergo omnes nostros charissimos, conlini- 
timos, Duces, Principes, Comites, Barones, Gubernatores Vrbium 



378 APPENDIX. 

& Navium in eadem Regione & caeterarum Provinciamm in 
quibus ille residere conatus fuerit ut idem permittatur Capitaneus 
libere sine obstaculo omni versari. Haec facientes pergratum 
nobis feceritis. Signatum Lesprizia in Misnia die Mensis De- 
cembris 9. Anno Domini 1603. 

STGISMVNDVS BATHORI. 
Cum Privilegio propricB Majedatis. 

Universis, & singulis, cujuscunq. loci, status, gradus, ordinis 
ac conditionis ad quos hoc praesens scriptum pervenerit, Guiliel- 
mus Segar Eques auratus alias dictus Gartems Principalis Rex 
Armorum Anglicorum, Salutem. Sciatis, quod Ego praedictus 
Garterus, notum, testatumque facio, quod Patentem suprascrip- 
tum, cum manu propria praedicti Ducis Transilvanice subsigna- 
tum, et Sigillo suo affixum, Vidi : & Copiam veram ejusdem (in 
perpetuam memoriam) transcripsi, & recordavi in Arhivis, & 
Registris Officii Armorum. Datum Londini 19. die Augusti, 
Anno Domini 1625. Annoque Regni Domini nostri Caroli Dei 
gratia Magnae Britannice, Francice, Sf Hibernice Regis, Fidei 
Defensoris, &c. Primo 

GVILIELMVS SEGAR, Garterus. 

SiGisMVNDvs Bathor, by the Grace of God, Duke of Transil- 
vania, Wallachitti and Moldavia, Earle of Anchard, Salford and 
Growenda; to whom this Writing may come or appeare. Know 
that We have given leave and license to John Smith an English 
Gentleman, Captaine of 250 Souldiers, under the most Generous 
and Honourable Henry Volda, Earle of Meldritch, Salmaria, and 
Peldoia, Colonell of a thousand horse, and fifteene hundred foot, 
in the warres of Hungary, and in the Provinces aforesaid under 
our authority ; whose service doth deserve all praise and per- 
petuall memory towards us, as a man that did for God and his 
Country overcome his enemies : Wherefore out of Our love and 
favour, according to the law of Armes, We have ordained and 
given him in his shield of Armes, the figure and description of 
three Turks heads, which with his sword before the towne of 
Regall, in single combat he did overcome, kill, and cut off, in 



APPENDIX. 379 

the Province of Transilvania. But fortune, as she is very varia- 
ble, so it chanced and happened to him in the province of Wal- 
lachia,m the yeare of our Lord, 1602, the 18th day of November, 
with many others, as well Noble men, as also divers other 
Souldiers, were taken prisoners by the Lord Bashaw of Gambia, 
a Country of Tartaria ; whose cruelty brought him such good 
fortune, by the helpe and power of Almighty God, that hee 
delivered himselfe, and returned againe to his company and 
fellow souldiers, of whom We doe discharge him, and this hee 
hath in witness thereof, being much more worthy of a better 
reward ; and now intends to returne to his owne sweet Country. 
We desire therefore all our loving and kinde kinsmen, Dukes, 
Princes, Earles, Barons, Governours of Townes, Cities, or 
Ships, in this Kingdome, or any other Provinces he shall come 
in, that you freely let passe this the aforesaid Captaine, without 
any hinderance or molestation, and this doing, with all kind- 
nesse we are always ready to doe the like for you. Sealed at 
Lipswick in Misenland, the ninth of December, in the yeare of 
our Lord, 1603. 

SIGISMVNDVS BATHOR 
With the proper privilege of his Majestie. 

To all and singular, in what place, state, degree, order, or 
condition whatsoever, to whom this present writing shall come : 
I William Segar, Knight, otherwise Garter, and principall King 
of Armes of England, wish health. Know that I the aforesaid 
Garter, do witnesse and approve, that this aforesaid Patent, I 
have seene, signed, and sealed, under the proper hand and Seale 
Manual of the said Duke of Transilvania, and a true coppy of 
the same, as a thing for perpetual memory, I have subscribed 
and recorded in the Register and office of the Heralds of Armes. 
Dated at London the nineteenth day of August, in the yeare of 
our Lord, 1625, and in the first yeare of our Soueraigne Lord 
Charles by the grace of God, King of great Britaine, France, and 
Ireland : Defender of the faith, &c. 

WILLIAM SEGAR. 






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